Sounds of Silence
by walroose
Summary: A story covering the entire six months Kurogane and Fai spent in Yama. Will contain a kind of continuing storyline and oneshots/drabbles in almost every chapter. KuroFai, rated T for language, violence, and hints at sexual themes. Romance takes a long time to develop, so consider it more like Friendship/Romance/Adventure. Contains spoilers.
1. Arrival

**I have been fascinated by Kurogane and Fai's side of the Shura arc ever since I read it, as I'm sure all KuroFai shippers are. xD So here's my version of events! I hope I don't write anything that's a canon impossibility, as it's been awhile since I read the manga. Note, however, that I'm ignoring Yasha's backstory as is canon to CLAMP's RG Veda, because this is a different Yasha. So I'm just making stuff up about him. xD I mean, Kurogane and Fai are the important ones here. : P **

**Anyways! Enjoy! TRC is not mine!**

**Chapter 1: Arrival**

* * *

_Day 1_

The last thing Fai remembered of the Shara world was a vast opening in the sky and the feeling that there was something _horrible_ and something _powerful_ on the other side of that void. Then he and Kurogane had both been swept toward that gaping hole, a feeling exactly like when Mokona transported them to a new world. After that had been a brief period of darkness, and then he'd found himself lying in the long, uncut grass of a wild meadow, an endless field of stars above him. A fat, full moon shone in the center of the sky, a dark _something_ floating near it, but what it was exactly, he couldn't see. Now that he was here, that feeling of dread he'd experienced was less, somehow; it was as though the feeling had diluted, and was now just a vague unease in his stomach that he could ignore if he wanted.

He sat up, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the dark. Kurogane was a few feet away, also picking himself up off the turf and standing, eyeing their surroundings. Fai slowly got to his feet and walked to stand beside his dark-haired companion, observing the new landscape.

Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona were nowhere to be seen. Apparently they had not landed in the same place as them, once again. It was unsettling that they had been apart from the kids for so long. It could only be a matter of time before Mokona would be unable to transport both groups separately like this and they'd get left behind.

Looking beyond their immediate vicinity, Fai saw that the clearing they had landed in was ringed by trees. Mountains were visible along the horizon, as well as some smaller hills and cliffs at a closer distance. Then Fai's eyes swept along the edge of the clearing itself and he saw a tall tower very close by. Several smoke trails streamed from the area, evidence that people inhabited the building or the surrounding land. He knew that's where Kurogane would want to go first, as it was the most likely place to be able to meet up with the kids and Mokona. Fai looked up at him expectantly.

Just as predicted, Kurogane pointed in the direction of the signs of civilization. "Let's go towards that tower," he said.

Or that's what he _should_ have said.

Instead of the words that Fai was expecting to hear, something strange came out of Kurogane's mouth. A weird combination of quick syllables, low and hard to distinguish.

_What?_

Kurogane took off, cutting a swath through the overgrown grass with his long legs as though nothing unusual had passed. Fai went after him and grabbed his wrist, forcing him to turn around. He looked irritated as he faced Fai, waiting for an explanation. But Fai knew that he wouldn't be able to give him one, as he was starting to understand what was happening.

Kurogane opened his mouth and spoke again, that same fast, incomprehensible speech. It was obvious that he was scolding Fai, yet the mage couldn't understand a single word of it. He marveled at his fellow traveler, fascinated by this new development. Without really paying attention to what he was doing, he reached a hand up towards Kurogane's face, gently touching his fingertips to the lips that no longer spoke the same language as him.

Startled, Kurogane jerked his head away from Fai's touch and immediately began shouting what were probably his usual reprimands, so drilled into his head that Fai could almost hear them echoed in the unfamiliar words. But he just shook his head slowly as Kurogane continued yelling.

"I can't understand a word you're saying, Kuro-tan," Fai said with a laugh, knowing it would sound like gibberish to the ninja.

Kurogane stopped speaking abruptly and stared at Fai, his mouth hanging open. The almost comical bewilderment only lasted a brief moment before he apparently realized what Fai had already concluded, and closed his mouth again with a business-like snap. Quite simply, the others, or at the very least Mokona, were not near enough to them to bridge the language barrier. Fai shrugged his shoulders helplessly and looked at Kurogane, trying to ask what they should do.

Kurogane took a moment to think, his brow furrowed. He seemed to unconsciously open his mouth and speak a few words before he remembered that it was futile, shaking his head in frustration and sighing. He gripped Fai's shoulders and seemed to be steeling himself for a very painful game of charades when something else caught his attention. His eyes flicked to Fai's right, in the direction of the buildings they'd seen. Fai followed his gaze and saw people approaching slowly down the grassy slope, a group of three men holding large weapons, visible even at a distance.

The one in the center held a long, thin blade that gleamed in the dull starlight, while the two flanking him wielded wicked looking bows, drawn and aimed at him and Kurogane. As they drew nearer, it became clear that all three were wearing some form of armor, as though they were on their way to a battle; or just returning. The archers finally stopped at a distance of about twenty feet from the pair, while the third took a few steps closer. He opened his mouth and shouted a few short sentences that Fai thought hardly sounded like a friendly greeting. But of course there was no way for him to truly _know_. He sighed. How would they get out of this one?

He glanced at Kurogane, expecting to see his face drawn in contemplation, coming up with a plan like he always did. But to Fai's amazement, there was a surprised look of recognition in his wide eyes. After a few seconds he hesitantly spoke back to the strange man, who seemed to understand him. At the very least, after Kurogane spoke, the three men lowered their weapons a bit. Then the man in the center sheathed his sword, saying something in a low voice. Kurogane grabbed Fai's wrist and led him forward slowly, still well aware of the two archers whose weapons were lowered now, but still drawn.

They stopped a few feet away from the men and Kurogane continued speaking with the man in the middle. Fai took the time to study this man, as the conversation went completely over his head, of course. He was tall, around Fai's height, and had long, dark brown hair pulled back and tied at the back of his head and flowing down to the middle of his back. He was wearing dark armor, the color impossible to distinguish by moonlight, over pants and a long-sleeved shirt, as opposed to his companions' long robes. His face, which relaxed the more he talked with Kurogane, had kind but cautious eyes. Eventually there was a pause in the conversation and he gave them both a small smile and seemed to ask Kurogane a question. Kurogane answered in the simplest way possible, a way that even Fai could understand.

"Kurogane." He touched his hand to his own chest. "Fai." He laid a hand gently on Fai's shoulder. He elaborated a little after Fai's name, gesturing to somewhere around his head.

The man in the center smiled at Fai. "Hiroto," he said slowly and clearly, following Kurogane's lead and pointing to himself. The two of them talked for a few more minutes, until Fai's head was practically swimming with the unfamiliar language so unlike his own. But whatever he told them seemed to please them, for they at once began leading the way back to their compound. However, they kept throwing the occasional sympathetic look over their shoulders towards Fai.

Fai had a guess as to what Kurogane had told them about him and his inability to speak, and it was more or less confirmed as they kept walking and Kurogane gestured that he keep his mouth shut. Apparently, he was a mute now. Or maybe just plain stupid. Either way, that meant he could leave all the diplomatic matters to Kurogane, which was probably a good thing.

It took only a few minutes for the small group to reach the buildings, which Fai now realized were a lot bigger than he'd first thought. There was actually an entire sprawling compound within the encompassing stone wall, as well as rows of colorful tents pitched outside the wall. The largest and tallest building, which Fai had been able to see from the field, looked to be made mostly of wood, about five stories tall, and incorporated an intricate, elaborate pattern within the roofs and gables. This central building was surrounded by courtyards, smaller buildings, walls and gates, all laid in such a way that it was impossible to directly access it. Hiroto led them through the maze with a familiarity that betrayed the extensive amount of time he must have spent there.

As they walked, they passed groups of men in armor huddled in patches of torchlight who stared at them as they passed. Fai became horribly conscious of how blonde his hair was among all the brown and black heads that turned to follow him as he walked by. He could practically feel their eyes on his back, even long after he passed them. He sped up to walk closer to Kurogane, but that couldn't stop the murmurings coming all around him, spilling from dark doorways and hanging in the air after him, comments and questions that would remain forever unknown.

Finally they reached the innermost courtyard, which seemed devoid of common militiamen, much to Fai's relief. The tall building was finally directly in front of them, but they were taken into a smaller, wooden hut set off to the side first. Their escorts left them with a few more words to Kurogane, who nodded and watched them leave without another word. After they were gone he let out a breath and his shoulders relaxed a bit.

Fai watched this silently, knowing that speech would hardly do him any good, waiting for Kurogane to explain. Despite his lack of evidence, he had unwavering faith in Kurogane; that he would be able to make him understand.

Eventually Kurogane turned to face him, a thoughtful expression on his face. He was probably wondering how best to go about it. Fai waited patiently during the moment of silence, studying the small, plain room while Kurogane organized his thoughts. When he was ready, he cleared his throat to get Fai's attention and opened his mouth. In the end Kurogane spoke only a single word, and as he spoke he raised his eyes to meet the mage's steady gaze.

"Yasha," Kurogane said. And just as he spoke the name of the god from Shara country, Fai gave a soft, involuntary gasp, startled not at what he heard, but what he saw.

The eyes that were staring into his were as black as pitch.

* * *

**Hiroto-san is my OC. I hope we'll all grow to love him in time. xD**

**Okay, so after I already started writing this and had planned the entire fic, I discovered that there is a story called Yama Snippets by beenworkingonacoktail that seems similar to this. I was very disheartened, afraid I'd just come across as copying it; but I'd already put so much time in, I still wanted to go ahead. I read a little of this fic, (only because I didn't want the author's ideas to affect my writing, it seems very good) and I ****_think_**** that mine will be very different in a few ways.**

**So if you've read Yama Snippets, I'm not in any way trying to copy or improve that story, but merely trying to write my ****_own_**** version of events. Hopefully readers will be able to appreciate both stories separately! : )**


	2. First Impressions

**Starting now, chapters will be split into sections with page breaks. There's a 'main' storyline that follows mostly action scenes, with Yasha, on the moon, etc. and then there are shorter oneshotish or drabblish sections that focus on everyday scenes and relationships. They will be in chronological order, marked with the day number, an average of 3 or 4 sections per chapter, though…this one has only two sections, and they're about the same length… xD**

**Chapter 2: First Impressions**

* * *

_Day 1, continued_

After Fai got over the shock of seeing Kurogane's usually crimson eyes turned the color of deepest black, he was able to laugh at himself for being so easily surprised. Kurogane frowned, and though Fai could not understand his words, he knew he was asking him what the hell he was laughing at. He pointed at his own eyes, positive that his would also be changed. It must have to do with the place they were in. Kurogane stared at him skeptically for a few seconds before he saw it, too.

He said something low under his breath, probably a swear or something to that effect. He didn't quite see the humor in it as Fai had, though, and gently punched him on the shoulder as the mage kept giggling. Then silence fell as they continued waiting. Fai assumed that's what they were doing, in any case, since Kurogane hadn't indicated they should be doing anything else; like planning an escape, if they were being held captive somehow. So he waited patiently, or as patiently as he could, humming under his breath and earning death glares from the ninja.

He spent the time wondering what Kurogane could possibly have meant when he said 'Yasha' just a moment ago. It was the name of the god from Shara, so what could it possibly have to do with this new world? He came up with several theories, each less likely than the last, but continued to do it just to pass the time. Kurogane also brooded silently, deep in thought, even forgetting to look at Fai threateningly after a while.

_Finally_, after what felt like an hour but was probably ten minutes, Hiroto returned and they followed him once again. As they left the small, one-room hut, Fai realized that the two archers had remained posted at the doorway as guards. So they hadn't been completely trusted alone. Well, that was good. People that trusted strangers too easily made Fai nervous.

They were being taken into the large, tower-like structure, the centerpiece of the compound. As they passed through the doors, Fai marveled at his surroundings. It was as beautiful on the inside of the building as it was impressive on the outside, decorated with carved columns, statues, and hanging scrolls with calligraphy on them. The whole place seemed light and airy and calm, all sentiments that contrasted sharply with the feelings Fai had in the pit of his stomach. The closer they got to the center of the building, the more certain Fai was that it contained something terrible.

They reached a pair of large doors, and Fai could feel the increase in the tension and mood of the entire party. This was it. This was why they had been brought here. And he was positive that whoever or whatever was on the other side of these doors was what gave this whole place the feeling of terrible power.

Only just as Hiroto opened the doors for them did Fai make the connection.

_"Yasha,"_ Kurogane had said.

Sitting before them, on a section towards the back of the room that was slightly raised, was a man that could only be described as the living, breathing counterpart of the statue of Yasha. He had the same long hair, spilling to the floor around him as he sat in the same position as the statue, wearing the same armor. Even his eyes were closed in meditation, and if he had not opened them as they entered the room, Fai would have been convinced that this was merely a painted copy of the statue itself.

But no statue could have emanated such a feeling of raw power and strength as Fai felt from this man. It was overwhelming, and Fai had to pause for a few seconds before finally stepping over the threshold of the room, staying half a pace behind Kurogane as they approached the man.

Hiroto bowed low when he reached him. "Yasha-ou," he said, remaining in that position until Yasha nodded subtly. Then he straightened and stood at Yasha's left, observing Kurogane and Fai from his leader's side.

Fai wondered if they should bow too, but Kurogane remained upright, so he followed his lead. In fact, Kurogane was staring at Yasha with narrowed, suspicious eyes, which seemed very disrespectful to Fai, but he could understand the distrust. Kurogane would be sensing the same power radiating from Yasha as Fai was, and it was probably accompanied with the same feeling of dull horror. There was, quite simply, something not right about the man before them. He didn't _feel_ like an ordinary human at all, and Kurogane wouldn't lower himself before him until he was either forced to, or it was proven that Yasha deserved it.

Eventually Hiroto spoke to them in a low tone, his words sharper than Fai had heard before, and his eyebrows furrowed. He was not happy with them, it seemed. At this, Kurogane bowed slightly and then knelt on the floor. Fai quickly did the same.

Then they waited. There was absolute silence and stillness in the room as not a one of them moved or hardly even breathed as they all waited for Yasha to speak. Fai's legs, tucked beneath him as he copied Kurgane's position, began hurting and his feet were falling asleep before Yasha finally opened his mouth. Not that it made any difference to him, as he couldn't understand what he was saying anyways, but he listened for names he might recognize.

Yasha's tone was soft and his sentences short and probably to the point. He did not go off on any lengthy monologues, and occasionally didn't even finish his own thoughts, as Hiroto would sometimes take up his end of the conversation. And it _was_ a conversation, for Kurogane was responding, asking and answering questions, and all Fai could do was listen for his own name, which came up every now and then.

But as he listened, he realized that Kurogane and the others were _not_ speaking the exact same language, as he'd first thought, but that there were small differences. It was like two distinct dialects, or an older, archaic form of a language and a modern one. Sometimes, after Yasha spoke, Kurogane would look at Hiroto and repeat a single word, to which he would respond until the ninja nodded and turned his attention back to Yasha.

They talked this way for a long time, going back and forth and having to pause and define words every few minutes, until Fai was immensely bored and had begun counting the panels on the wall to keep himself occupied. Thankfully they were served tea at one point, a welcome distraction to the mage. It was delicious, similar to something Fai had had before, though he didn't remember which world it was in now.

When the other three were finally done discussing whatever it was they had to talk about, Yasha dismissed them, standing gracefully and exiting the room first. Then Hiroto led Fai and Kurogane back out the way they'd come. He was silent this time, no longer speaking to Kurogane, but it was not an unfriendly silence, merely a tired one. To Fai's relief, all the men who had previously occupied the courtyards and doorways were nowhere to be seen. It was very late at this time, and the moon had sunken low in the sky.

Hiroto took them to a building within the compound and at last, it seemed like their final destination of the evening. It was a long, low wooden building, with walls made of paper screens spread on wooden frames, and with sliding sections in place of regular doors. They were taken down a hall of these identical sliding doors until they stopped outside one that looked just like the all others to Fai. At a word from their guide, Kurogane opened the door and went inside. Fai went to follow him, but stopped when Hiroto said, "Fai-san."

He looked at Hiroto, who clearly expected him to keep going with him. Unsure of what to do, he looked back at Kurogane. He nodded and Fai did as he was told, following Hiroto a little further down the hall and to a different room.

Fai stepped into the small, square space, and the door behind him was immediately slid shut by Hiroto. He was alone. He let the false, cheery smile that always adorned his face, even as he had sat and listened to the conversation with Yasha, slowly relax away. He didn't need it anymore, not here, not now.

It was quiet and fairly dark, though his eyes had adjusted somewhat to the lack of light. He could see that the floor was covered in mats made of a woven plant material, another similarity to certain other worlds they'd visited. He slid his shoes off before stepping into the main part of the room, which didn't have any furniture or decorations in it.

He crossed the floor and slid open a door which led to the edge of the wooden platform, a few feet wide and a few inches off the ground, which encircled the entire building. He looked at the huge, full moon and yawned, noticing for the first time how tired he was.

Then, looking around the empty room, he realized he had no idea where any of the bedding was stored.

…

_Day 2_

Fai was bored.

He'd spent his entire first morning in this country trailing after Kurogane as they were shown various different areas within the compound and met a lot of people. Everyone here was very polite and courteous; they all bowed their heads to Fai when they were introduced, and he gave _them_ the smile that was expected of him. But no one ever even tried to engage him in the conversation. No one made faces and hand gestures and tried to get anything across to him. Even Kurogane just shrugged him off with a stern look when he tugged on his sleeve, trying to get his attention.

But he kept following Kurogane and Hiroto dutifully, and at least he was able to figure out more about this world. From the number of men wearing armor and wielding weapons, not to mention the serious mood that hung over the entire place, Fai gathered that there must be some sort of conflict going on. However, he didn't see any signs of the opposing forces or any sort of battlefield, either, so this revelation only led to more questions that he wouldn't be able to ask any time soon.

After they'd eaten lunch and had spent the first part of the afternoon making more awkward introductions, Fai decided he couldn't do it anymore. It was just so _boring_ and so _pointless_. So as they were passing through one particularly lush courtyard, he slowed his pace, allowing the other two to walk ahead of him without their even noticing he was lagging behind. Why should he bother staying with them if he was just going to get ignored? He might as well do a little exploring on his own.

He watched as their backs finally disappeared around a bend and then smiled slightly to himself. Freedom! It was just what he needed, too, because this world of incomprehensible speech and formal ceremony was a lot to take in. He needed this chance to slow down and gather his thoughts, by himself.

He took off down a small path, branching off from the main one and winding through a large, beautiful garden. Following the walkway, he strolled past small trees and pools of water that seemed carefully placed and well-tended to. As he passed closer to one of man-made ponds, he was pleasantly surprised to see several brightly colored fish hovering just below the surface of the water.

He crouched down at the water's edge, putting a finger in the water. "Hello, fishies!" They swam closer to him, interested. "Oh, you're so cute! I'll have to come back with Kuro-rin sometime, so he can see you!" The fish curiously bumped against his finger with their small mouths, checking to see if he was edible. He laughed at the ticklish sensation and watched them for a few more minutes before standing up and continuing on his way.

This garden seemed never-ending, despite being contained within the walls like everything else. It gave the impression of being _outside _those boundaries, free, natural but also perfectly formed. It was the perfect spot for some meditation, and Fai found himself lost in his thoughts and the scenery as he wandered farther and farther away from the main path.

Eventually he came upon a building that seemed like it was part of a stone wall, as though it passed through to the other side. He was somewhat surprised when he first saw it, since the plants in the garden had been arranged in such a way as to hide and disguise the man-made structures until the path led him right up to them. Apparently he'd reached the far side of the courtyard without even noticing. Merely out of curiosity, he tried the door to the building, and was delighted to find it unlocked. He walked in with a slight spring in his step, feeling a little excited to be exploring and discovering things all on his own. But that jovial confidence wilted as soon as he saw that he was not alone in the small room.

A large man in armor was sitting in a chair on the far side of the room, watching him out of small, distrustful eyes. In his hands was a sharp, cruel dagger that glinted in the light that poured through the door Fai had opened. Fai gulped when he noticed a long, discolored scar running down the side of his face. _This guy looks tough_, he thought. The door behind him closed with a heavy thud, startling him and causing him to jump slightly.

Fai smiled weakly and nodded to the man, quickly passing through the cramped room to the door on the other side. He was sure that it led to the courtyard or building on the other side of the wall, so if he wanted to get anywhere, he had to walk within a few feet of this scary guy. He could feel those eyes watching his every move, and for the first time, he wondered if he was somewhere that he shouldn't be.

But he wasn't stopped or questioned, so he yanked the door open as quickly as possible and stepped back into the sunshine, back into the cheerful, welcoming world. But as he struck off into this new garden, smaller than the last but beautiful in its own right, something felt off. Something had changed. He'd fleetingly felt alarm, and even though it was gone, the day had lost some of its charm.

Despite the nagging feeling growing in his stomach, he continued exploring, passing through countless courtyards and buildings, occasionally running into a person, but more often he was completely alone in the twisting, round-about complex. Perhaps a little _too_ twisting and round-about. It wasn't until the sun had started sinking low on the horizon that he finally admitted that he was hopelessly lost.

He'd started suspecting some time ago that he would be unable to retrace his steps, so he'd instead kept moving forward, looking for anything familiar. Keeping the central tower as his goal, he'd tried recreating their journey from last night, but he'd run into dead-ends and confusing passages. It was clear that this place had been designed with an enemy attack in mind, and he was falling for every trap.

It was getting darker and colder, and he hungrier, with every step he took in what he was sure was once again the wrong direction. He was getting nowhere this way, and began to feel an unusual, anxious pang in his chest. He just wanted to see something, some landmark, that he knew, a place to start. Or a person. He would give a whole lot right now to have Kurogane here with him, even if they couldn't communicate verbally. But it had been more than an hour since he'd last seen _anyone_, let alone the ninja.

He found himself at yet another false passage, a dead-end that stopped short at a stone wall. He sighed and leaned back against the cool surface, his legs tired and longing for a rest. He slid to the ground and sat with his legs out in front of him, wondering if he should choose a building to spend the night in, since he didn't think he'd make it back to his room at this rate.

There was a rustling sound not far away and a figure appeared. Fai's heart leapt into his mouth as he noticed the height and general stature of the man were very similar to Kurogane, but as he rose and approached him, he discovered that it wasn't who he'd hoped it was. In fact, he didn't recognize this man at all. But he'd already gotten very close to the stranger.

He must have surprised the man as he silently and suddenly appeared at his side; for when he noticed Fai, he took a step back and drew his sword. He broke into rapid-fire speech, probably asking Fai who he was and what he was doing there, but Fai had no way of explaining himself. He was stuck.

He raised his empty hands to show he was unarmed, but the man was beginning to get angry that he wasn't talking. Fai could also smell the distinctive aroma of alcohol as the man inched closer, his sword much too close to Fai's neck for his liking. He stepped back, realizing for the first time that he was actually in danger. His pulse quickened with the knowledge, adrenaline rushing through his system, the unfortunate, instinctual, base emotion of _fear _rearing its head, his stomach churning despite his ever-calm exterior. He didn't have any way to defend himself, short of using magic, which he wouldn't do. He was helpless.

Then there was a familiar, barking voice that stopped the attacker in his tracks. They both turned towards the source and saw a furious Kurogane running in their direction, his eyes glinting. When he reached them, he grabbed Fai by the shoulder and shoved him behind him bodily, arguing with the other man heatedly. Fai waited behind Kurogane, his heart rate slowly returning to normal. Eventually, the swordsman took off, shouting back over his shoulder at the pair of them as he went.

Kurogane kept muttering darkly under his breath, looking in the direction the stranger had made his escape in, but after a moment turned his attention on Fai instead, grasping his upper arms and forcing him to look him in the eye. Fai smiled and shrugged slightly, apologizing and asking forgiveness the only way he knew how. Kurogane scowled and Fai needed neither a translation nor the cuff on the shoulder to understand what the ninja meant as he called him an idiot. But his face relaxed after a little scolding. He seemed glad that Fai was safe.

With a sigh, Kurogane touched his stomach and quirked his eyebrows at Fai. The mage knew what he meant and nodded eagerly. As Kurogane led him back through the maze of courtyards and walls, on their way to find something for Fai to eat, the blonde stayed close to him, feeling safe once again. Yes, in this world of puzzles, where he couldn't understand or make himself understood, with Kurogane was the only safe place to be.

He'd learnt his lesson. He wouldn't leave Kurogane's side.

* * *

**Yasha doesn't speak at all in the manga, if I'm correct, but really, I figure he must be able to. He leads an army, for goodness' sake… xD In any case, he needs to in this story. : P**

**Also, we'll get Kurogane's POV starting next chapter! Yay! And thanks for reading so far, hope you stick around for more! : D**

**Things will hopefully pick up soon… this was a lot of introductory stuff. Sorry!**


	3. The Basics

**Yama-jou, a term that Kurogane uses sometimes, means 'Yama Castle' and refers to the area contained within the walls of the compound. Super creative name, I know. ^ ^**

**Other than that and the usual honorifics, any Japanese words will be italicized and a translation/explanation is at the end of the chapter!**

**Chapter 3: The Basics**

* * *

_Day 3_

Try as he might, Kurogane couldn't keep a pained expression off of his face every time he watched Fai eat.

It wasn't really the mage's fault; he couldn't use chopsticks and he wasn't used to the kinds of food they ate. Kurogane knew this, and that it was just a few cultural differences. But it was still embarrassing to sit next to him at mealtimes.

Being unfamiliar with a lot of the food, and unable to ask what it was, he made quite a show of poking, sniffing, tasting, and pulling weird faces before actually eating anything new. And then he would proceed to stab his food with his chopsticks, the only way he could use them. But he often looked stumped when it came to rice and soft foods that simply wouldn't work with him. Usually, with a guilty look at Kurogane, he'd end up eating those foods with his hands, trying his hardest to be discreet. Still, Kurogane could hear the muffled chuckling coming from all around them, and it made him uncomfortable.

So it was time to do some teaching.

He dragged Fai down to the kitchens a little before dinner. Living within the castle itself had its perks; for instance, being served their meals instead of having to cook themselves. Kurogane was immensely glad for this. He could cook for himself in a pinch, but would prefer not to.

After briefly explaining the situation to the cooks, they agreed to help, though it may have been to satisfy their own curiosity. They kept staring at Fai, who had become something like a celebrity among the servants, pointing at his hair and skin, which was so much fairer than any member of the Yasha Clan. Still, they provided Kurogane with two small bowls of rice and a few pieces of extra, dried _daikon_ radish.

Kurogane brought Fai to a small table in the corner of the kitchen and offered him a pair of chopsticks as they sat cross-legged opposite each other. "Here," he said, nearly forcing them into Fai's hand before he understood he was supposed to take them. Then he held them firmly, in his customary death-grip, like he was wielding an extremely small shovel.

"No, try this way." Kurogane held up his own hand as an example. He knew that nothing he said would get through to the mage, but it made him more comfortable than sitting there in silence.

When Fai's fingers still refused to hold his chopsticks correctly, he gave a sigh of exasperation. "Like this," he muttered, grasping Fai's hand and manually moving his fingers into more or less the correct position. "Okay…" Kurogane let go of Fai, hoping that his hands wouldn't shift now that they were finally holding the implements correctly.

"Let's see if you can use them now." Kurogane placed the dish with the _daikon_ between them and picked up a piece with his own chopsticks. He didn't eat it, but simply picked it up and put it back down. Fai got the point and tried to imitate him, clumsily separating the ends of the chopsticks and attempting to lift a piece of radish only to have it roll and slip out of his grasp. He gave a surprised laugh, as though his failure was totally unexpected. His grip loosened on his chopsticks when he laughed, so he offered his hand to Kurogane. Rolling his eyes, Kurogane gently arranged his fingers correctly again. Then Fai went back to this new challenge, determination in his eyes.

As the mage attacked those poor, innocent pieces of radish, Kurogane leaned back, resting his weight on his hands. He was satisfied that Fai was at least holding them properly; there may be some hope for him after all. He closed his eyes, simply listening to the little hums and sighs Fai made as he kept trying to get the hang of it. He'd let him practice by himself for a while before showing him the best way to eat rice.

A few minutes later there was a pause in the noises coming from the opposite side of the table, so Kurogane opened his eyes. He was just in time to see Fai, now holding the bowl, trying to lift a precarious amount of rice to his mouth. "Wait, don't-" Kurogane leaned forward, trying to somehow stop him before something went wrong. But it was too little, too late. Fai's hand twitched, the chopsticks slipped, and rice was flung in all directions. Including right into Kurogane's face.

A few grains of rice stuck to his forehead and cheeks, the rest dropping onto the table between them. He stared at the small white grains, surprised at the sudden and strangely forceful attack, unintentional as it was. When he was able to look up at Fai, he found his expression somewhere between apology and laughter, as though he was unsure how he should react in this situation.

Kurogane's first instinct was to yell at him, scold him, and maybe even chase him around a little, threatening him with a pair of chopsticks. It's what he would have done, had they been able to speak. But they couldn't, and he couldn't take a man with rice hanging off his nose and stuck in his eyebrows seriously, anyhow.

It started as a low chuckle in the back of his throat and eventually the hearty, loud laughter burst out of his mouth. Fai blinked a few times before he too grinned and laughed. They both collapsed, clutching their stomachs as they laughed, not just at the rice sticking to their faces, but as a way to relieve all the stress and the tension that had built between them since they'd arrived here. They simply let go and communicated one of the only ways they still could.

…

_Day 4_

After two days of resting and getting to know the people and the layout of Yama-jou, Kurogane was glad that he was going to get some real exercise today. Hiroto had asked him to meet him at the entrance of the castle fortifications this morning, in order to show him the training grounds.

Kurogane had asked about the war that Yasha and his men were obviously participating in, but had only received vague answers in return; he knew that there was an ongoing conflict, but the details of it were never divulged. So the fact that he was being asked to train with them was a great opportunity, not just to keep him in shape, but hopefully to learn more about what was going on in this world, too. Because it was clear that he was not being told everything.

Fai trailed along behind him, smiling mildly at the world in general, having no clue as to where they were going. Kurogane felt bad that his companion was constantly in the dark about where they went and what they did, but there was hardly anything he could do about it. He just had to make sure that the blonde didn't sneak off and get lost again. He unconsciously started grinding his teeth just thinking about it. _That idiot_.

When they reached the outermost wall, he found Hiroto waiting for them, his face calm and collected as usual. He smiled when he saw them. "Good morning, Kurogane-san. Fai-san." He nodded to each of them.

Hiroto was the second-in-command in Yasha's army, only the king himself ahead of him, but Kurogane often got the sense that he was really the one who got things done around here. Kurogane had not seen Yasha since their first night in Yama, but Hiroto had been with them every day, all the while interacting with the other high-ranking commanders and giving orders. It was possible that Yasha was simply a planner more than a doer, but after their conversation together, Kurogane had begun wondering if he was really what he seemed to be. He was immensely powerful, but his speech had been strange and distant, as though he was not really of this world. It had been disconcerting, and Kurogane had secretly been glad that they'd been left in Hiroto's care instead of his.

Now Hiroto was leading them down a sloping, grassy expanse, in the opposite direction from the clearing he and Fai had first arrived in. They were going towards the sprawling camp made of a few permanent buildings and dozens of differently colored military tents with people swarming all about. This was obviously where most of the common soldiers lived.

As they reached the level plain at the base of the hill on which the castle rested, Hiroto veered to the left a bit, not heading directly for the camp, but instead to a large area of packed dirt on its outskirts. There, men were testing out their skills and practicing with their weapons, sparring or shooting arrows at targets. Kurogane grinned, eager to join them and feel the comforting weight of a sword in his arms once again. He glanced at Fai, who was observing everything with interest, taking it all in with hungry, curious eyes. Kurogane's stomach did a small turn, as it always did, whenever he saw the unfamiliar black irises.

"All of our facilities are available to you, Kurogane-san, you need only ask," Hiroto said as they approached the training grounds. "Will Fai-san be joining you?"

Fai looked up at the sound of his name, and then at Kurogane, waiting to be told what to do. "No, he'll just watch."

"Very well. Fai-san, come this way, please." Kurogane nudged Fai towards Hiroto, and, with a little reluctance, he went. They didn't go very far, just outside the perimeter of the square of packed dirt. Kurogane felt a little guilty at the look on the blonde's face as he'd trudged away, but told himself that he was just being logical. Fai had been a little clingy since a couple days ago, when he'd disappeared for hours and had somehow managed to pick a fight before Kurogane had found him and stepped in. But Fai didn't have any weapons of his own, and if he was left wandering around here, he was sure to get into trouble. Now Kurogane wouldn't have to worry about him.

As he walked to a large, unoccupied space where he could practice alone, he noticed a few suspicious, mistrustful looks being thrown his way from the men around him. He really couldn't blame them, either. Most of these men hadn't seen or heard of him, and even those that had didn't have a single reason to believe he belonged here. He knew that even Hiroto, as kind and welcoming as he'd been, was using this as an opportunity to evaluate his skills, as either foe or ally, whichever he proved to be. Glancing back, Kurogane could see the lieutenant standing beside Fai, watching him closely. It was time to prove himself.

Reaching the open space and putting everything else out of his mind, Kurogane took a deep breath and concentrated on only one thing; Souhi at his hip. He stood in the center of his empty circle and breathed, allowing the sounds, the muffled clanging of men sparring, the grunts and heavy breathing, the dull thuds of arrows hitting targets; all of it faded into the background as he mentally transported himself, remaining aware of his surroundings but more concerned with his own battle. The loudest sound he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears.

His eyes snapped open and he drew his weapon, not hurrying, but concentrating on keeping his motions fluid. The enemy was on his right, so he sank into his stance and struck with deadly accuracy. Then his attention was called to his left and, looking, then turning, he easily downed another soldier.

He continued working his way through his _kata_, gradually gaining speed and confidence, and the numbers of imaginary bodies grew around him. When he finished one he transitioned into the next with barely a pause in between. Even after he ran through all of the ones that he knew, he went back and did them again and again, immersing himself completely in the forms. He continued practicing the familiar, ingrained movements and then some other, simple drills. As he fought his invisible enemies, the sun climbed higher into the sky and sweat beaded his brow, his breathing quickened, and his muscles strained.

When he finally stopped for a rest, he took proper notice of his surroundings again. A small group of spectators had grown in a loose ring around him, men that were taking a break from their own exercises to watch him curiously. They were muttering amongst themselves, though whether they were saying good or bad things, he couldn't tell.

No one spoke to him directly, and everyone quickly dispersed as he sheathed his sword, going back to their own activities. However, they all seemed to have a certain energy they hadn't had before. He smirked. Maybe they _had_ been impressed.

Their robes fluttering from the motion of their legs, Fai and Hiroto were approaching him, quickly crossing the field. Fai was smiling, as usual, but Hiroto's eyes were gleaming with something Kurogane hadn't seen from him before, something like excitement. "Kurogane-san!" he called as he approached, waving his right arm.

He continued as he drew up beside Kurogane. "Where did you learn those forms? They're very similar to the ones we learn as soldiers, but at the same time, they're so different!" Hiroto seemed so enthusiastic that he was forgetting himself. His language wasn't quite as formal as it usually was, sinking into a more common, natural speech pattern, a little easier on Kurogane's ears.

Kurogane smiled slightly. "I learned them a long time ago, as a child." Fai, who'd been walking a bit behind his companion, now joined them, handing Kurogane a small rectangle of cloth and a waterskin. Kurogane wiped his forehead and drank deeply, waiting for Hiroto's response.

Kurogane had told Hiroto and Yasha that he and Fai came from another world and that they were looking for three of their companions; since then, no one had inquired more about their pasts. It would be considered rude. So now, as Hiroto heard this answer, his eyes seemed to lose some of their excitement. "Oh. I see." He gave a forced looking smile, and changed the subject. "Well, you were very impressive, Kurogane-san. Any man would be proud to call your skills his own."

"Thank you, you're very kind," Kurogane muttered, slapping Fai's hand away from Souhi. He'd been playfully reaching for it like a child who thinks he can't be seen, but Kurogane knew better than to let him take the weapon. The blonde pouted for a moment before ducking behind Hiroto's back, sticking his tongue out at Kurogane. The ninja narrowed his eyes threateningly before turning his attention back to Hiroto, who responded after a small laugh at their antics.

"Not at all. In fact, I think Yasha-ou would be very interested to see you perform your _kata_ for him."

"Yes, of course," Kurogane said, but inside, he was burning with curiosity and new questions.

Why would Yasha want to see him do a few simple forms? Was he looking for something in them? Unfortunately, it seemed he would have to wait for an audience with the king himself to find out.

…

_Day 5, night_

Fai slipped out from under his blanket and stood up. He'd heard some strange noises from outside his room, just as he had the last few nights after he went to bed. Tonight he was going to investigate.

He slid open the door that led outside and took a step into the cool night air. It was not very late, and the moon was just about to separate itself from the horizon line. The sounds he'd heard were louder out here. Floating towards him through the fresh, crisp air were the mingled sounds of voices, shuffling feet, and clinking metal.

Staying close to the wall of the familiar, safe building, he walked around to the front side of it, searching for the source of the noises. As he rounded the corner, he could see a large group of men gathered in the courtyard, all dressed for battle like they had been the first night Fai and Kurogane had arrived. Some held standards on long poles, beautiful flags in tones of dark blue and black. These soldiers were on their way to a battle.

Looking at the faces of the men, Fai recognized Hiroto among the crowd. He was speaking to a few of the men as they milled about, waiting, it seemed. Fai had to watch for only a few minutes before he saw what for.

The men all snapped to attention and Fai followed their eyes to the far entrance of the courtyard. Silently, gracefully, Yasha rode into the courtyard astride a large creature, shaped somewhat like a horse, but with lizard-like features in the face and tail. It was a fierce looking creature, but moved slowly and smoothly, rather similar to its rider. Yasha rode through a part in the crowd, to the head of the company. He paused and conferred briefly with Hiroto before going on, moving towards the outer rings of the compound.

Everyone followed Yasha quietly, with an ease that revealed how ordinary this seemed to be to all of them. If he was right and this was the source of the sounds that Fai had been hearing for the last few days, then this was indeed a nightly routine. Where they were going and what they were doing, he didn't exactly know. Everyone was always back in the morning, and back to training and preparing for whatever they were going to do the following night. He was sure Kurogane would have a better idea about where these battles were taking place, but it was impossible to ask his thoughts.

All he knew was that this place still had its secrets, and he was on his own to discover what they were.

* * *

**_daikon_**** – literally "large root", a large, white, mild East Asian radish**

**_kata_**** – a standard form for a movement, stance, etc., in this case a set series of sword fighting moves**

**Anyone else remember their first time learning to use chopsticks? xD**

**I want to thank the readers, especially all of you who have already followed or favorited this story! You guys are awesome! So I want to know what you all think of it so far. I'd really appreciate a review or two now that you've read a few chapters, positive feedback or constructive criticism, it's all welcomed!**


	4. Acceptance

**Hello! Thanks to all the new followers, favoriters, readers, and reviewers! Phew, so many of you to thank! xD I love you guys…so much…maybe too much…**

**By the by, up through this chapter, there's been something written for every day that Fai and Kurogane have been in Yama. However, this pattern will not continue forever, and most stories will have a 3-4 day gap between them… cause I can only come up with so many stories, people. xD**

**Chapter 4: Acceptance**

* * *

_Day 6_

Fai was standing a few yards away from Kurogane, looking out at the distant setting sun with a calm, contemplative look on his face. Kurogane didn't think that Fai knew he was there, that he was watching him, so he took the rare opportunity for some reflection of his own.

He'd made the mage wait outside while he had a private discussion with Hiroto, concerning the demonstration he was apparently supposed to give Yasha tomorrow. Hiroto had been the one that had asked that Fai not come in with them. Kurogane still hadn't made it entirely clear how much Fai could (or could not) understand of their language, so he still didn't fully trust the silent, blonde man who seemed so much more foreign than Kurogane. Hiroto was very protective with anything that had to do with his king, and would not involve people he considered unnecessary.

But they had finished their conversation a few minutes ago, and Kurogane had walked outside to find Fai in his current quiet, pensive mood. This was so different from the Fai that he had always seen before they came to Yama that he had cause to pause.

This was a silent Fai. Not that he was literally silent, for he often spoke to Kurogane when they were alone. But this was a Fai whose main form of defense was gone, who was more vulnerable than he'd ever seen before. This man still smiled and laughed and spoke cheerfully, about what, Kurogane could only guess. But there was a definite, profound sadness in his eyes. Especially when he didn't know he was being watched. He was completely alone in this world. It made Kurogane's chest ache, and he wished there was something he could do for him.

After a few minutes, Fai noticed him standing near the entrance of the building and turned to face him. His mouth formed a small smile and he slowly walked toward him. "Kuro-tan," he said quietly as he came up next to him, tugging on his sleeve.

Kurogane felt his usual responses to those childish nicknames rising up and almost spilling out of his mouth before he remembered that it would be pointless. And he really couldn't yell at a guy who he'd just seen looking so… pitiful.

"Let's go, idiot. It's time for dinner," Kurogane said, leading the way. Fai quickly matched his pace, still clutching the cloth of his sleeve tightly. Kurogane hoped he wouldn't let go.

…

_Day 7_

"Are you ready, Kurogane-san?"

"Yes."

"You'll do well, I am certain of it. Good luck." Hiroto nodded to him once before taking his place at Yasha's side, the king's ever-faithful guard. They were both sitting in that quiet, graceful way of theirs, just waiting for Kurogane to begin. But he couldn't, because there was still one person who had yet to take his place.

Kurogane turned to look at Fai, who was still hovering by his side. He said quietly, "Go on. Go with Hiroto-san and Yasha-ou." Fai's eyes flickered over to the two figures in question as he heard their names, and knew what was expected of him. He heaved an overdramatic sigh before giving Kurogane a brilliant smile, his own way of wishing him luck. Kurogane nodded in acknowledgement and kept his eyes of Fai's back the entire time he walked to sit beside the other two, at a slight distance from them.

Once Fai had settled himself, Kurogane heard Yasha speak for the first since the night of their arrival. "Begin when you are ready, Kurogane-san," he said. His voice was quiet, but his mere presence had the power to completely silence those around him, making volume unnecessary.

Kurogane closed his eyes as he heard those words. He took a deep, calming breath and let it out slowly before opening his eyes and starting his first _kata_.

He was finally exhibiting his abilities for Yasha, a couple days after Hiroto had first mentioned it, and a week after he and Fai had arrived in Yama. He didn't know what was going to come of this, but Hiroto had seemed pretty excited about it for the last few days. He kept telling Kurogane that he needed to do his best, and that it was important he do well. Yasha himself hadn't shown any emotion when he'd greeted them with a silent nod upon entering, but Kurogane had more or less expected that.

He'd been asked to demonstrate all the _kata_ he knew, both with a weapon and without, and then he was going to spar with a few of the strongest soldiers in the army, selected for the fight by Yasha himself. This was clearly some kind of test, but, to what end?

They were in a small, private garden that he hadn't seen before today, and was probably reserved for the king's own use. It was only the four of them; Yasha, Hiroto, Kurogane, and Fai, who'd been allowed in only after Kurogane had pleaded his case. It wasn't something he normally would have done, but when Fai had understood that he wasn't supposed to go with them, his eyes had widened and he'd looked at Kurogane. There had been a hint of desperation on his face. Kurogane couldn't leave him alone looking like that, so he'd relented and requested permission for Fai to join their small group. It had delayed them some time, too, because Hiroto had to go and ask Yasha directly before allowing it.

Kurogane wondered if something had happened in the past that caused Hiroto to be so protective of Yasha. _Maybe he_…_no, hold on, what am I thinking!?_

He blinked and tried to refocus on his form, deepening the stance that he knew had been lacking. He didn't usually have to think about anything as he did his forms, and keeping the mind clear was actually an important part of _kata_. But today, with all these thoughts and observations floating though his head, diverting his attention, he wasn't moving with the sureness and confidence that he knew he could. _Dammit, just relax, Kurogane_.

Going through every form he knew took about three quarters of an hour by the time all was said and done. Despite the sweat that had built on his brow, he managed to control his breathing and was not feeling at all tired. And he'd been able to suppress his racing mind enough to get through all his _kata_ with an acceptable amount of mistakes. Kurogane tended to neither sugarcoat a situation, nor belittle his own efforts; he simply took this performance at face value. He hadn't been great, but not terrible, either.

But he was not overly concerned with this portion of the test or exhibition, whichever it was. In his opinion, _kata_ were not the way to truly measure someone's proficiency in a martial art. That could only be done through battle, real or simulated it didn't matter to him, because he never went easy on his opponents. He had been excitedly looking forward to the sparring portion of this test since he'd first heard about it. It would be a chance to test his skills in a relatively safe environment where he didn't have to look out for Fai or the kids, or even the creampuff. He could just focus on himself and his opponent. Simple, and the way he preferred it.

But he had to wait for his partner. Hiroto was rising in order to fetch the three soldiers, who were waiting just outside, that were going to square off against him. However, he paused as he passed Fai. Kurogane strained to hear what he said and watched his lips closely, since it wouldn't make any difference to Fai.

"Go help Kurogane-san get prepared to fight," he seemed to be saying. Fai had a smile frozen on his face, and he looked at Kurogane, but his eyes had the dull look of incomprehension in them. Hiroto was trying to do him a favor and have Fai act as his assistant, but it was going to be in vain if Kurogane didn't intervene.

The next time the blonde looked at him, 'help me' written all over his face, Kurogane subtly motioned with his hand. Fai quickly came back to his side, mild confusion still etched on his furrowed brow. Kurogane pressed Souhi into his hands. He wasn't allowed to have his weapon with him during the fight. "Now go back and sit down. With Yasha-ou." He pointed back in the direction that he'd come from.

It really was incredible how much they were able to communicate using just names, the only words common to their different languages, and a few gestures. Kurogane could actually see Fai's eyes light up as he understood what Kurogane wanted. He immediately went back and took his seat again, though he kept Souhi cradled in his arms rather than putting it down.

Hiroto came back into the garden with three of the broader, more muscular men Kurogane had yet to see in this world where they all tended to be extremely tall and slim. Hiroto brought the first of them up to Kurogane, without any weapon. Later, they would fight another round using wooden swords.

They stood a few feet apart, Hiroto between them, sizing each other up. Kurogane was confident that he would be able to defeat him; he had a decided height and reach advantage, even if his muscle mass might be slightly less than his opponent's.

Now Hiroto addressed both of them. "The fight will continue until I have decided it's over. Any dishonorable strikes will result in an immediate loss. Now, get ready."

Kurogane's knees bent as his stance widened, lowering his center of gravity and raising his fists. The other man did the same, a grim smile adorning his face. They were both going to enjoy this.

"Begin!"

…

Kurogane winced as he glanced down at his arm and saw, once again, the angry red welt marring his smooth, brown skin. It was impossible to escape unscathed from a fight with three such well-trained, strong soldiers.

As he examined the mark, Fai's pale hand entered his field of vision, gingerly, curiously, touching the wound too. Kurogane hissed instinctively at the contact, but then pressed Fai's hand down with his own, not letting him remove it. His fingers were cool, and felt soothing against the hot stripe of raised skin. "Well, at least I won, right?" Kurogane muttered. A few bruises were well worth the enjoyment he'd gotten out of the fights and the feeling of victory when Hiroto had stopped them after he had clearly gained dominance.

He and Fai were sitting at one of the low tables in a dining hall of sorts, reserved for the higher-ranking soldiers that were allowed to live within Yama-jou. It had been a few hours since his grueling series of matches. He and Fai had been here most of the time since then, eating, drinking, and resting.

Fai said something quietly and tugged his hand out from under Kurogane's, leaving the welt on his arm stinging once again. Kurogane put pressure back on it, suppressing the pain a bit.

There was a quiet rattling sound as one of the _fusuma_ slid open. Kurogane turned and saw Hiroto's mild face peering into the room curiously. He didn't usually eat here with the others, so he must be here for some other reason. When his eyes lit upon Kurogane's, he smiled. "Ah! Kurogane-san! I was hoping I'd find you here."

He crossed the room and sat down at the table, across from the pair of them. His eyes were shining excitedly. "I've been speaking with Yasha-ou, and we've decided-" He suddenly cut short when he seemed to realize for the first time that Fai was lounging beside Kurogane. He visibly hesitated, considering if what he had to say was appropriate for the mage to hear. Kurogane decided it was time that he make himself clear on that point.

"Whatever you can say in front of me, you can say in front of him," he growled. "I trust him."

"Of course," Hiroto said with a small, relieved smile. That would make his life less complicated. "Well, Kurogane-san, Yasha-ou has found you to be an extremely talented fighter, and even though you are not of the Yasha Clan, he wishes to extend his invitations to you."

"Invitations? Where?"

"To the battle. To the Castle of the Moon."

Kurogane's spine tingled at the words, as though they themselves held power, even though he didn't know what they were referring to. He cocked an eyebrow and Hiroto continued explaining. "Today, you passed a test to prove your worth as a warrior. So in two days' time, after you have healed and rested, he wishes for you to be among our ranks when we go to battle. Please accept, Kurogane-san. Please come fight with us."

Kurogane still didn't understand exactly what was being asked of him. He didn't know what the Castle of the Moon was. But he was going to find out.

He nodded. "I would be honored."

…

_Day 8_

Fai was spending his day the same way he'd spent the last few; waiting near the training grounds while Kurogane spent all day _practicing_. Practicing for what, exactly, Fai still didn't know, but after yesterday's private demonstration for Yasha, and his extremely serious talk with Hiroto afterwards, Fai was convinced that they were trying to get Kurogane involved with these mysterious night-battles of theirs. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. He was confident in Kurogane's abilities, but it would be impossible to say he wasn't worried, especially because he had so little knowledge about where, how, and why these fights were taking place.

But for today the ninja was safe, and spent his time battling imaginary enemies, or sparring with the other men, using wooden staffs in place of swords. He didn't want to leave Kurogane's side, but he also had nothing to do down on the field, so Fai could only watch the men at their training or take a nap on the grass, the time slowly ticking by.

He spent these lonely hours on the side of a small hill a little above the training grounds. The tents and buildings where he assumed some of the soldiers lived were directly across the plain from him. Even further beyond the living quarters he could occasionally glimpse the silver flash of a meandering river, looping around the entire compound, which was up a much larger rise on his right. Behind him was the field he and Kurogane had first arrived in. To his left the flat plains continued for some way, but eventually gave way to forest, a very dark, intimidating wall of trees. Distant purple mountains and ridges, far away on the horizon, were visible on clear days.

It was a beautiful, impressive landscape, but Fai hardly noticed it most of the time. He spent all morning, every morning, waiting impatiently for the time when Kurogane would break for lunch. He could hardly focus on anything else but keeping an eye on the sun's progress through the sky and watching Kurogane, for he'd come to recognize his routine somewhat. There were clear signs when he was getting ready to stop; he wouldn't spar in the last hour or so before eating, but take things slower, probably allowing himself to cool down a bit. When he noticed this happening, Fai would begin to feel a gentle excitement stirring in his chest.

He so looked forward to these short breaks because they were the most interesting part of his day, and the only time he got to spend alone with Kurogane. It was easier to relax, especially since they couldn't understand each other. He didn't have to watch what he said here, he could be as elusive or as open as he wanted. And it was nice to be able to loosen up a little on this world where he had to constantly be on guard against everything else.

Fai watched as Kurogane sheathed his sword, signaling that it was officially time for lunch. Fai immediately fell flat on his back on the hillside, closed his eyes, and waited. He liked to pretend he was napping when Kurogane approached him. He liked Kurogane to work a little at having to get him up.

"Oi!" Kurogane called a moment later, climbing the hill and approaching Fai. He kept his eyes closed and slowed his breathing as much as possible. He felt Kurogane's shadow block out the sun that had been hitting his face as he stood next to him.

Kurogane said something to him and poked his shoulder with his foot, but Fai didn't make any sign that he was awake. With a sigh, Kurogane fell heavily to the ground beside him and waited in silence for a moment. Fai continued feigning sleep.

After a bit, Kurogane shook his shoulder again. "Fai," he said gently. A jolt shot through Fai's stomach, as it did every time he heard his name from Kurogane's lips, a new phenomenon, unique to this world. Being unused to it, it made him uncomfortable. It just felt a little too…personal. He preferred it when Kurogane was yelling at him, calling him an idiot, and he was laughing and teasing back. So even though he'd usually hold out a little longer, and make Kurogane really work at waking him up, trying to frustrate him a little, today he didn't. He began stretching and yawning, sitting up and smiling.

"Hello, Kuro-chi," he said.

Kurogane grunted and grabbed a waterskin, drinking deeply, not even pausing to stop a few drops from running down his chin. It was a hot day, but he rarely took a water break while in the middle of one of his workouts.

"Well, I hope you're hungry, lunch looks really good today," Fai said amiably as he handed one of the two wrapped packages to Kurogane. He always talked when they were alone. It made things less awkward, and it was one of the few opportunities he had to exercise his voice. He never spoke in front of anyone else.

Kurogane took his lunch and didn't seem to even hear Fai's voice, but just began eating. He ate silently and steadily, barely even looking at his food as he lifted it to his mouth.

Fai frowned faintly. This was not as fun as it should have been. Kurogane wasn't paying him any attention at all. This was the only time they had together for him to look forward to, and he was being completely ignored! He would go mad on this world if the only one he had left didn't think he was worth the time to _look_ at. He'd have to get his attention, somehow.

He glanced down at his own lunch, which he hadn't touched yet, and got an idea. He picked up his chopsticks. Kurogane had been so insistent on teaching him how to use them; surely he'd like to see him eating with them properly.

"Kuro-rin! Look! I've been practicing!" Kurogane glanced over when he heard his name, and Fai proudly lifted a bite of rice to his mouth, waving the chopsticks around as he chewed and swallowed.

Kurogane looked at him with an, 'oh, is that all?' kind of look before nodding and going back to his own food.

Fai pouted a little. "You're so mean, Kuro-pi! I thought you'd be excited!" He made his best sulking face and waited for Kurogane to notice it. After a minute or so with no response, he gave up and finished his lunch too. He wasn't entirely sure what all of it was, but he would eat it if it tasted good.

Kurogane finished before he did and lay back on the grass, his arms behind his head, his eyes closed. Fai wasn't sure if he actually fell asleep when he did this, or if he was just resting. Either way, it was boring, and today Fai wasn't going to just sit here and watch him napping. He'd get him to react, one way or another.

He picked about two dozen of the small flowers that were growing all over the hillside, ones with white petals and yellow centers. Then, using a fingernail to poke slits in the stems and sliding the next flower's stem through it, he formed a circle of the pretty little blossoms. He hesitated, but then settled it on his own head and began picking more flowers and to make a second crown, humming as he did so. When this one was finished, he turned to Kurogane. "There! Now we can match! You'll be the king, and I'll be the queen." He plopped the circlet down on Kurogane's head.

Because he was lying down, the crown of flowers didn't sit properly on his head, but lay across his forehead, mostly. Fai laughed, he looked so ridiculous and unlike his usual self. His eyes finally opened as the circlet settled on his head, and he looked at Fai before lifting it a few inches above his face, so that he could see it. He looked at it blankly for a few seconds before he seemed to realize what it was. Then he threw it at Fai with a few angry words, before settling back down, eyes closed again.

Fai sighed and fell back onto the grass, too, about ready to give up. It seemed like Kurogane wasn't in the mood today. He'd been so _serious_ since yesterday, completely ignoring Fai and all his antics. He would do anything for Kurogane to just get mad and yell and chase him like he always did.

While he pondered this, his left hand wandered along the ground and he picked a piece of long grass that had gone to seed, about an inch of soft, hair-like protrusions along the end of it. He began playing with it, twirling it between his fingers and twisting the stem. But looking at the grass he got one last idea to try and get Kurogane to notice him.

He rolled over onto his side, facing the ninja, who was either truly asleep now, or nearly. He took his little piece of grass and, fuzzy side first, he touched the end of Kurogane's nose. He brushed the grass away with his hand without even opening his eyes. Determined, Fai tried again, poking at his nose and face with increasing force until, quite by accident, the soft, ticklish end of the grass went inside one of Kurogane's nostrils.

Kurogane had officially reached his breaking point, it seemed. His eyes flew open, but Fai was on his feet and running before he could see anything else. He was in trouble, but he couldn't stop laughing as Kurogane chased him up and down the hill, shouting, both of them slipping occasionally on the grass. Fai was laughing so hard that eventually when he fell he couldn't stand up. Kurogane managed to catch him then, yelling and grabbing his wrist, pulling the grass out of his hand. Even then, between giggles, Fai couldn't help but think that he'd succeeded in getting his attention, at least.

* * *

**One time my cousin stuck a pine needle up my nose. It really hurt. xD **

**_fusuma_**** – traditional Japanese sliding doors, made of a wooden frame covered in a layer of paper or cloth**

**I know Hiroto is just an OC, and he hasn't done anything exciting yet, but… I really hope the readers will be able to appreciate him (even if you don't ****_like_**** him), because the story will have SO much more meaning later on if you do. So just don't… ignore him simply cause he's an OC, okay? Please? xD**


	5. The Drums of War

**Ah, I actually have to write battle scenes now! XD If you couldn't tell, I'd been putting it off a bit…well, I'll try my best, but I can't make any promises. : P**

**Oh, and thank you, Shane (who left a review as a guest, so I can't send a PM). And in response to your question…just read this chapter. We're getting there! XD**

**Anyone who gets the reference in the chapter title gets a cookie~**

**Chapter 5: The Drums of War**

* * *

_Day 9, night_

Kurogane sat cross-legged in his room, his eyes closed, his breathing slow and measured. He was meditating and trying to keep his mind blank as he waited for Hiroto to come get him.

It was night, and the moon had already begun to rise. Judging from what he'd been told, Hiroto should be here soon in order to take him to the battlegrounds, wherever they were. He'd been preoccupied with this whole ordeal for the last few days, unable to fully concentrate on anything and admittedly ignoring Fai, which made him feel a little guilty. But he just had so many questions, and he was ready to find out a few of those answers firsthand.

Still, he had no idea how long this campaign would last. Was it going to be a single battle, a series of battles, or maybe a siege? Would they be going by foot? How far away was their destination, this Castle of the Moon that Hiroto had mentioned? And, he thought as his stomach squirmed unpleasantly, should he have tried to tell Fai about this? He began to wish he'd asked more about the details, but he hadn't wanted to seem rude or ignorant so he'd trusted Hiroto and Yasha to know what they were talking about.

His thoughts were interrupted by a rustling noise from outside of his room and then came a soft, "Kurogane-san?"

"Yes, I'm coming," he replied quietly, taking one last deep breath before snapping his eyes open and standing in a single, fluid motion. He adjusted Souhi at his hip, making sure it was secure, before joining Hiroto. They walked silently outside, coming upon a throng of men in armor, milling about and talking amongst themselves. Yasha was among them, astride a large creature which Kurogane couldn't identify. There were several more officers, who Kurogane knew as higher ranking commanders, riding the same beasts.

Hiroto moved to the front of the company, beside Yasha, and everyone else fell in line behind him. They all seemed to know exactly where they were going. Looking around, Kurogane just followed along. He was ignored by the soldiers aside from the occasional sideways glance, so it was really all he could do.

They all marched quietly out of Yama-jou and continued down to the field where Kurogane and Fai had appeared. There, a large crowd of common soldiers, those who didn't live in the castle proper, was waiting for them. The two groups merged and quiet talking broke out as they all waited.

But for what?

Kurogane was thoroughly confused now. Of all the scenarios he'd run through his head, none had included crouching in this field, a few hundred yards away from the castle walls! It just didn't make sense. He began looking around for Hiroto, to see if he could get an explanation.

He finally spotted that familiar long, brown ponytail. "Hiroto-san!" he called, dodging between a few men in order to reach him. The crowd was dense and it took a long time to move through all the people.

Just as he came within earshot of him, he noticed a shift in the mood of those around him. Everyone fell silent. Those that were sitting or crouching stood up, and all turned to face the same direction. Kurogane paused and followed their eyes. They were all staring at the moon, hovering high in the sky now. There was something smaller beside the moon, something dark colored and irregularly shaped…

Kurogane's eyes widened as a new possibility occurred to him. _No…it couldn't be…_

The world around him disappeared in a way somewhat similar to Mokona's method of transporting them between the dimensions. Everything except the men went absolutely black for a brief moment before they rematerialized in a new, unfamiliar location.

They were near the edge of a cliff in a rocky landscape. After a few seconds, the other men continued their conversations from before, unfazed by their transportation. Kurogane was curious about their surroundings, though, and instead decided to look around. Cautiously, he approached the natural ledge and looked over the lip to the land spread out below. It was an incredible sight.

Starting from the base of the cliffs and spreading out for a seemingly endless distance was a vast, barren expanse of dirt and rock. Everything reflected a dark brownish-red color in the light shining down from the enormous moon, just above the horizon. The sky itself was dark and starless, just an almost palpable mass of deep blue. Thin clouds hung low, morphing into mist as they came in contact with the cool surface of the rock. The whole place was beautiful in its stark, harsh reality. Not to mention Kurogane had never seen the moon so close, and he wondered if it was really possible that they could be on the spiky black entity in the sky.

As he watched the desolate wasteland, figures began appearing in the light mist in much the same manner that Kurogane and his companions had only a moment before. In a matter of seconds, an entire army was spread out on the plains below. The silent warriors were all staring directly back at Kurogane.

He stepped back from the edge a little, his heart pounding with what couldn't exactly be described as surprise or fear, but anticipation. He could finally see the enemy before him and there were no more questions about what was expected of him. He was supposed to fight. He was supposed to kill.

"That's the Ashura Clan," Hiroto said softly, coming up from behind and taking a place beside him. Kurogane glanced at him, unused to the tone of voice he was hearing. He sounded bitterly sad. His usually calm eyes reflected the same emotion as he looked down at the men below them. For the first time, Kurogane wondered where they came from, and why they were fighting, but he had no time to ask.

"We don't have much time in this place. We must return to Yasha-ou's side and get ready to fight."

Kurogane nodded and, with one last look over the precipice, followed Hiroto back towards the main body of the army. He saw that groups of men were beginning to descend to the plains below. The edge that he had been looking over was the highest, and steepest, part of the rise that they had appeared on, but to either side it was possible to gain the flat wastelands by a relatively gentle descent.

"This is your first time here, so stay at my side," Hiroto said as he led Kurogane to the back of the company. Then he raised his voice and began shouting at the men to hurry, to stay in line with each other. All the sadness had gone from his voice to be replaced with a hardness and tone of command that wasn't usually there, either. Hearing him bark orders reminded Kurogane that Hiroto, as kind and gentle as he always was while they were in Yama-jou, was a general out here on the battlefield.

Under Hiroto's watchful eye the entire force was down the slope in minutes, and there they waited, staring at the Ashura Clan only a couple hundred yards away. Hiroto, Yasha, and Kurogane stood towards the back of the long line of soldiers, with the archers and other commanders. For a brief moment, perhaps only a few seconds, the twin armies were still and silent, each eyeing the other. Then, as though by some prearranged signal obvious to everyone but Kurogane, they surged forward in unison, closing the gap between them until they clashed in the center.

The noise was deafening, but it was the noise of battle, and it was familiar to Kurogane, who could feel the adrenaline pumping through his system. He longed to be on the front lines, where the majority of the action would take place, but Hiroto had made it clear that he should stay back here, with him.

They were apparently supposed to be some sort of guard for Yasha, who was observing the battle from astride his beast of war. _His_ personality hadn't changed much when they came here, like Hiroto's had. He was still quiet, calm, and contemplative, and not warrior-like in any way. It was no wonder Hiroto felt the need to stay by his side, sword in hand; he hardly looked like he was in a state to fend for himself should need be.

Kurogane knew that this was an important job, that he was being trusted to protect the leader of the Yasha Clan. He also knew that it was probably better that he be involved in the battle as little as possible. But it was difficult, when the sounds of war were roaring from only a few yards away and his blood boiled to be a part of it. However, he remained where he was, constantly alert and aware and waiting.

He and Hiroto held their positions by Yasha for some time, and Kurogane watched the battle go back and forth. Blood was spilled, men groaned in pain as they were stabbed or shot with arrows, and still, neither army seemed to be gaining ground on the other; it was an even match, and the line withstood the assault.

But eventually something in the flow of the battle changed. A member of the Ashura Clan broke through, felling several strong men that Kurogane had come to know and respect in the process. Then the stranger made a run straight for Yasha, and of course, Kurogane as well, who was ready for him. He couldn't help but grin in anticipation.

He met the man, his sword swinging, and he was blocked. They struggled back and forth for a few minutes, exchanging blows, parries, and counters, but it was obvious who the more skilled fighter was. Through the sheer force of Kurogane's blow, the other man lost his grip on his sword and it fell to the ground, clattering on the rocky surface.

The Ashura Clansman also had a shield and was able to fend off a few more of Kurogane's attacks, but it was only in avoidance of the inevitable. Kurogane hit him in the gut with the butt of his sword and he fell to the ground. The ninja was upon him in seconds.

Kurogane could feel Souhi heavy in his arms, his heart beating wildly. He could see the fear in the man's eyes in the instant before he shut them, knowing what would come next. But Kurogane was frozen. He couldn't move. He couldn't make the last stroke that would end this man's life because he knew what the consequences would be.

He felt his arm begin to lower. This might be a war, but he wouldn't risk his own strength for these people. But just as he came to this conclusion, he heard Hiroto's voice coming from behind him. "Kurogane!" He glanced up and saw Hiroto staring at him, wild-eyed. His voice carried, loud and commanding over all the other sounds surrounding them.

"Kill him."

It was an order, but it was one that Kurogane could not follow. He looked back down at the man he had pinned beneath his knee, and he lowered his sword even further. He didn't know what to do. His every instinct was telling him to attack but he didn't. And he wouldn't.

As he stared at his enemy, the one he couldn't kill, his face seemed to become insubstantial. It dissolved into blackness and a moment later Kurogane was kneeling in the field that they'd left Yama from not long before. As he got his bearings, the first thing he did was raise his eyes to the moon, which glowed innocently above them all.

There was the clank of armor behind him as someone grabbed his shoulder and roughly turned him around. It was Hiroto. He looked furious, his brow furrowed and his eyes blazing. He was still grasping the front of Kurogane's shirt as he shouted, "Why didn't you do as I told you? Yasha-ou could have been killed because of you!"

Kurogane stared at him, stunned, unable to give him an answer. Hiroto took a breath and spoke again, his voice lower and calmer than before, though still edged in ice. "If you ever disobey my orders in battle again, I will be forced to take action. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Kurogane said slowly.

Hiroto released him and offered him a hand in standing up. He looked Kurogane up and down for a moment before shaking his head and heaving a sigh. "I'm sorry, Kurogane-san, but it is my duty to protect Yasha-ou. And I will not fail in my duties."

He turned and walked away, leaving Kurogane to wonder, once again, exactly who Hiroto was. But he was returning to his normal, gentle self as he looked after his men, taking note of who had been wounded, who had been lost, and offering his help wherever it was needed.

Kurogane checked himself over for injuries, but he was unharmed. Then he, along with all the other soldiers lucky enough to make it back, wearily began drifting back to their respective sleeping quarters, some to the castle, others to the camp on the plains below, until the time when they'd reconvene the next night. And so it would continue.

…

_Day 11, night_

_Fai was watching a battle spread out on a broad rocky wasteland beneath a huge, full moon. The only man from either army that he could see clearly was a tall, dark-haired man wielding a sword; Kurogane. All the other soldiers seemed out of focus and indistinct. Even then, Fai's point of view started out far away, from behind, and gradually approached._

_Kurogane was fighting fiercely, his sword flashing in his hands, his armor and skin flecked with blood. A cold, grim smile adorned his face as the battle continued and he disarmed and incapacitated swordsmen, spearmen, and any man that came his way, dozens in all. Occasionally arrows would strike the man facing Kurogane causing them to go down, and Fai got the distinct feeling this was no coincidence._

_A pile of bodies, of both the dead and the wounded, grew at Kurogane's feet, but he didn't slow at all in his assault. Now Fai was to his right and slightly above him, able to see every graceful, fluid movement he made. The ease with which he fought made the art of battle seem just that; an art. Nothing and nobody could touch him._

_Until he lost his focus._

_His eyes left the enemy in front of him for less than a second, just a slight glance in Fai's direction. But it was enough. During that instant everything changed. His foe, whose face was still blurry to Fai, took advantage of his distraction, gaining the upper hand in the one-on-one contest. Fai could see the shift in Kurogane's expression as he began to struggle. He attempted to step back and regroup, but his foot slipped on the blood-covered rock. As he stumbled backwards, his adversary lunged and the sword pierced Kurogane's side, his scream of pain mingling with Fai's cry of horror-_

"No!"

Fai sat straight up, panting as if _he_ had been the one fighting for his life in his dream. But it had just been a nightmare. It was probably brought on by all the thoughts he'd been having lately about the mysterious battles the men on this world participated in nightly. He'd been worried that Kurogane would be forced to partake in this ritual as well, and his sleep pattern was clearly being affected by it. Judging by the darkness of the room, it was still the middle of the night, but he was wide awake.

He sighed. It had just been a dream, and yet…something about it had been incredibly _real_ as well. Fai bit his lip. Would it be alright if he just checked on Kurogane?

He stood up and stretched his back, the first thing he had to do every time he got up after sleeping on the floor. He'd heard somewhere that it was supposed to be good for you to sleep on the floor, but he wasn't sure if he believed that was true after more than a week of trying it. So far, the cushion he'd been provided with had done little to discourage a sore back and neck in the morning.

After he'd gone through his usual exercises, he stepped quietly into the corridor. It was darker here, so he crept along slowly, his left hand just barely touching the wall in order to keep his balance. Since their first night here, he'd learned to count the panels between his room and Kurogane's, so he knew when he reached it.

He waited for a moment, listening to see if he could hear anything from within the room; soft snoring, the shifting of blankets, a sigh. He only heard silence.

Knowing that it was foolish, knowing that Kurogane would just yell at him to get out of his room and then he'd go back to bed like nothing had happened, he put a hand on the door. His heart was beating unnaturally loudly as he remembered, at the last second, to put a smile on his face, and whispered, "Kuro-chi?" He slowly slid the panel aside, revealing…an empty room.

He couldn't comprehend what he was seeing for a few seconds. He stood in the doorway, the false smile frozen on his face as his eyes slowly and methodically checked all four corners of the room, confirming what he already knew was true, what he'd known was true since he'd been awakened by that nightmare.

Kurogane was gone.

At first panic filled his chest at the thought of Kurogane on a strange battlefield fighting an unknown enemy. His heart nearly stopped. But as the shock wore off and he was able to think more rationally, he realized that his fear must have just been an aftereffect from the dream. Kurogane was a competent fighter, as he'd shown on many occasions already during their travels. He could certainly handle himself. Fai took a deep breath. That's right, he didn't have to worry about him at all.

He _didn't_ have to worry about him.

_I don't have to worry._

He stared at the slightly rumpled cushion on the floor, a shallow indent visible where Kurogane had been lying earlier that night.

_…why can't I stop worrying?_

He stepped over the threshold into the room, padding softly along on the mats that covered the floor, approaching the bedding. He sank down and knelt beside the cushion, not really seeing his surroundings. He couldn't get the image of Kurogane, a sword piercing his side, out of his head. He hated not knowing where he was, how he was doing. He was completely helpless, something he'd been experiencing a lot lately.

His hand touched the edge of Kurogane's blanket, an exact replica of the one he'd been given. He fingered the familiar material without truly feeling it, lost in his own thoughts. He didn't know how much time he sat there, staring at the far wall, lit from the outside by the moonlight. It could have been minutes, or as much as an hour.

After a while his nerves calmed, but his mind was still racing. He was so absorbed in a confusing mixture of memory and dreams, fiction and reality, that he fell into a doze, nearly drifting off to asleep sitting on the floor. His brain didn't register the rhythmic tapping of boots on wood approaching, not even when they were just outside the door. He still didn't notice when the door behind him slid open almost silently. Then there was a pause.

"Fai?"

He whipped around at the sound of his name. Kurogane was standing in the entrance of the room, his eyes slightly widened in confusion. He looked just as he had in Fai's dream; the same armor, the same blood spattered across his clothes and skin. The only difference was that he was whole and healthy, not more than a scratch or a bruise on him. He was fine. He was perfectly fine.

Fai stood and slowly approached the still bewildered Kurogane, stopping a couple feet away. They stared at each other for a few seconds, the questions on both of their lips hanging in the air like a physical presence, but neither could ask, and neither could answer. All Fai knew was that he was relieved, not to mention both physically and emotionally exhausted. It had been a long night for the both of them.

Finally he put on his broadest smile. It came to him easier than it usually did, and he said, "Welcome home, Kuro-rin."

…

_Day 12_

Fai had come to a decision after finally returning to his own room after his encounter with Kurogane. And he'd come to the conclusion that he _never_ wanted to spend a night like that again. And he realized that the only way to accomplish that was to get invited to the battlefield himself. Only then would he be able to know exactly where Kurogane was, and whether he was safe. He would also get the opportunity to learn more about this world and about Yasha, both still a complete mystery to him.

When he and Kurogane had walked down to the training area that day, (Kurogane still insisted on going every morning for a couple hours, despite the fact that he was fighting every night) he'd acted normal, waving goodbye to his companion and trudging up the hill to their usual spot. But after he'd sat and waited until Kurogane had settled into his warm-up routine, he'd stood and dusted himself off. Today he was going to try something new.

He walked back down to the flat area, hesitating at the edge for a moment. He was a little nervous, but he didn't let it show on his face. He just smiled at anyone who looked his way and they usually broke eye contact after only a few seconds.

Finally he'd steeled himself enough and he plunged into the fray, dodging between men on all sides, making his way to the archery range on the far end of the training grounds.

He'd been drawn to the bow as his weapon of choice in this world since he'd seen those arrows in his dream last night. Something about them had been appealing; perhaps it was that they retained their deadly accuracy from a distance. In the hands of the right archer, that was.

He reached the rudimentary range, which consisted of a line drawn in the dirt and some straw targets a short distance away. Fai simply watched a few men at their practice for a few minutes, taking note of the way they handled their weapons and anything else he could glean from mere observation. The bows were huge; taller than the men were, it seemed. He wondered how easy they were to use, and wanted to get his hands on one and try it for himself.

But this was the part of his plan that had the most holes in it. He had no idea how or where to obtain a bow. He looked around to see if there were any extras lying around somewhere, but of course there weren't. He was just starting to consider approaching one of the men and begging to borrow his bow when he heard a familiar voice.

"Fai-san!" Hiroto was walking towards him rapidly, concern on his face. He was obviously unsure as to why Fai was wandering around alone by the shooting range. He kept talking and asking questions when he reached the mage, but Fai could only give him one answer. He pointed to the nearest archer and waited silently for Hiroto to get the message.

It didn't take him long. At first he hesitated, and asked him something again, but Fai didn't budge. Then he nodded once and offered him a small, grim smile. He made a motion with his hands for Fai to stay where he was, so he stood and waited alone for a little longer, watching the warriors once again and trying to picture himself in their place.

Hiroto returned shortly afterwards with an already strung bow and a quiver of arrows. These he handed over only after some very solemn words, to which Fai nodded emphatically and with sincerity, hoping that this was an appropriate response. Apparently it was, because a few minutes later he was by himself again, facing his very own straw target, bow in hand.

He was a little unsure how to handle the weapon, but he followed the motions of the other archers and managed to nock an arrow and draw it back. He attempted to aim at the bundle of straw, but his hand couldn't hold the arrow steadily. His brow furrowed as he concentrated further, but he knew that if he released the arrow it wouldn't fly straight. He lowered the bow, thinking.

Then he heard another familiar voice, one he'd been hoping he _wouldn't_ hear. "Fai!" Kurogane was making his way over to him. He smiled, though internally he thought, _I'm in trouble_. He had a feeling Kurogane wouldn't appreciate his going behind his back and trying to pick up archery on his own. He'd probably get yelled at and wouldn't be allowed back. But he _had_ to get invited to the battles, somehow.

Kurogane stopped in front of him and just looked at him. Fai avoided his eyes as much as he could, smiling at a place over Kurogane's shoulder. Finally the ninja reached out a hand and touched the bow in his hands. _He's going to take it from me_, Fai thought, and he wouldn't resist. He'd do as Kurogane wanted, because he didn't want to make a scene, though he was disappointed.

But to his surprise, the bow wasn't tugged out of his hands. Instead Kurogane stepped behind Fai and held the bow downwards, his hand covering Fai's on the grip. He tapped Fai's legs, forcing him to widen his stance, adjusted the position of Fai's hand a little, then fitted the arrow into the nocking point, but he didn't draw it back. He waited. Slowly, Fai fit his right hand into the small space he'd left, so that he was the one who held the arrow.

He led Fai through the motions of lifting the bow high above his head and then lowering it while drawing the string, bringing his right hand all the way back to a spot near his ear. The arrow felt steadier in his hands this time, and after Kurogane further adjusted the position of his hands he let go and stepped back.

After a few seconds of trying to fine-tune his aim, Fai released the string and the arrow went flying. It didn't go anywhere near the target, but it was a lot closer than he expected. He lowered the bow, staring after the arrow's flight path before looking at Kurogane.

His dark companion offered him a slight smile and nod of approval. Fai returned the gesture and got ready to try again, because he _would_ do this.

* * *

**The impression I always got from the manga was that the time they had on the castle was ****_very_**** short, too short for anything to ever really get accomplished. XD Anyway, even though I haven't given it an exact time yet, I was thinking somewhere in the range of like, 45 minutes? What do you think? Too long? Too short? I'd really appreciate some opinions on this! : D**

**Also, if any of you are familiar with archery and think that some of the things I said were strange, then I'll tell you all that I got my information for technique from a Wikipedia page about Japanese archery. It's called kyūdō, it seems to be a little different from other forms of archery, and hopefully I got it right. ^ ^**


	6. Balance

**This chapter breaks pattern a little in that it doesn't ****_really_**** have anything that advances the story of Yasha or the war, but I think that's okay. Hopefully it's okay! xD**

**And I never have room to write this, but I want to thank theticktalks and spinzaku04. They both read over every chapter before I post it, to make sure I'm not just a rambling idiot. xD Thanks guys!**

**And thanks Shane, once again, for the review, and to everyone else who reviewed the last chapter!**

**Chapter 6: Balance**

* * *

_Day 15_

Fai giggled as cool water swirled around his ankles before rushing downstream, playfully splashing between the dark, shining rocks. It was nice to get a break from the stifling heat and visit this little river, not really more than a stream. He'd practically had to drag Kurogane down here after they'd eaten lunch, but he was glad that he'd made the effort.

The small river ran on the opposite side of the compound from the training grounds. Fai had noticed it soon after they'd arrived, but had never been close enough to see more than the sun reflecting off its surface. But today it was so hot, he'd been sweating just practicing archery; he couldn't imagine how Kurogane must have felt, running around and swinging a heavy sword all morning. So he'd had the idea to explore the stream a little, for a change of pace and to cool down, and he'd forced Kurogane to come along with him.

He was wearing knee-length pants instead of robes today, so he'd been able to take off his boots and wade right in as soon as they got here, feeling instantly relieved from the sweltering heat. The combination of clear mountain water and shade from trees growing nearby kept the whole area wonderfully chilled, not to mention beautiful. Even the air was cooler by the water than it was just a few feet away. He reached down and dragged his hands and wrists through the gentle current. The water only reached halfway up his calves at this point, though it looked deeper further downstream.

"Ooh, the water feels so nice!" he said, cupping his hands and splashing himself in the face. Cool water trickled down his neck and he shivered in delight as he glanced over his shoulder at Kurogane.

The dark-haired man wasn't even looking at him. He was leaning against a boulder on the shore, arms folded across his chest, staring off somewhere into the distance. It had been a habit of his lately, and frankly, Fai was getting bored with it. He couldn't even say that Kurogane was being moody; in fact, quite the opposite. He was gentler, kinder, and calmer than ever before, always understanding with Fai and looking out for him, as though he needed to be taken care of. He often had a look of pity in his eyes when he gazed at Fai. And he was not the Kurogane that Fai had come to know.

Fai bit his lip and picked his way downstream a little, hopping from rock to rock as he went, until he was balanced unstably on a stone only a few feet away from Kurogane. "Kuro-tan," he teased, getting the other man's attention. When the ninja looked up, Fai leaned forward and grabbed his elbow, tugging playfully, pulling him towards the water. At first he resisted, muttering something under his breath and trying to escape Fai's grasp. But after a few unsuccessful attempts he relented, coming along reluctantly with the mage as they made their way upstream.

Though this expedition had started out with entirely pure intentions, Fai had decided that he was going to try a little experiment while he had Kurogane here with him today. He had seen Kurogane's attitudes and behaviors changing over the last couple weeks while they'd been here, so he wanted to confirm some of the observations he'd made, once and for all.

Fai led the way along the rocks, pausing every minute or so to make sure Kurogane was keeping up with him. It would have been a lot easier to walk _beside_ the river instead of up through the center of it, but a lot less fun. And besides, he was going to use the water as part of his plan.

What he wanted to see was how Kurogane reacted if he was in danger, even just a small amount. He was simply curious, because he had a feeling that the ninja's protective instinct had definitely increased ever since they'd come to this world. Before, throughout their travels in other dimensions, Kurogane had more or less let Fai look after himself unless the whole group was in serious danger. So here, where he could sense Kurogane constantly watching him, always nearby, alert and ready to act, it felt…strange.

Therefore, he wanted to test the lengths Kurogane was willing to go to protect him. As he hopped from one stone to another, he was always looking a few yards upstream, carefully searching for the perfect spot for his little act.

Eventually he saw it; a precarious-looking stone balanced atop another, clearly not able to hold a grown man's weight without moving. Fai pulled ahead of Kurogane a little, waiting for him to catch up. When Kurogane was just a few feet behind him, he jumped to the rock in front of him. It shifted beneath his foot, though it was not enough to make him lose his balance. Still, he stumbled backwards, playing up the loose footing, his arms reeling as he fell down towards the chilly water.

There was a splash behind him and just before he hit the surface of the river he felt himself being dragged upwards by strong arms. He was cradled for a moment against Kurogane's chest as they both breathed, adrenaline causing blood to pound in Fai's ears. He hadn't been in any real danger, but his body couldn't tell the difference.

After a few seconds that seemed to stretch on for eternity, the ninja lowered him, letting him gather his legs beneath him before releasing his torso. Fai took a moment to make sure he was secure and balanced before turning around with a grin plastered on his face. "Thanks, Kuro-" he started, but apparently Kurogane wasn't going to stop at just setting him on his feet. He grabbed Fai by the upper-arm and, muttering darkly under his breath the whole time, marched him over to the riverbank, forcing him to sit down on a fallen log when they got there. Then he knelt at the water's edge, busying himself with something Fai couldn't see.

Fai blinked. He was definitely surprised, not having expected Kurogane to go this far. Preventing him from falling, yes, he'd been counting on that, but was it really necessary to do all this? Grasping the muscle of his arm, which stung from the force Kurogane had used to grip it with, he watched as the ninja stood up and turned towards him, holding out a plump waterskin that he'd just filled with fresh stream water. Fai stared at it, unsure what it was for, but Kurogane kept inching it closer and closer to him, grunting as he did so.

Eventually Fai reached up and slowly took the container, earning a satisfied look from Kurogane. He took a cautious sip of cool water, still wondering what this was about. Kurogane nodded and sat down next to him on the log, resting his elbows on his knees and observing their surroundings, looking up and down the river. Whenever Fai tried to give back the water, Kurogane would glare at him until he dutifully drank another mouthful.

_Does he think that I'm dehydrated or something_? Fai wondered, drinking occasionally from the waterskin like Kurogane wanted. Whatever the case, it was a surprising and kind gesture that he hadn't been expecting at all. It made him feel like…like his well-being mattered to Kurogane. It was kind of nice, even if he didn't deserve it.

_But_… The hand holding the now almost-empty skin lowered from his lips as he watched the ninja out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't going to fool himself. It wasn't because of _him _that Kurogane was acting this way; he was a good person, and he'd probably do the same no matter who was stuck here with him. It was only coincidence, and that's all it ever would be, so he shouldn't try to make it personal.

…

_Day 18_

Kurogane had been worried about Fai for the last few days.

It wasn't anything that Fai had been _doing_; in fact, he actually seemed a little happier than he had before, now that he had his archery to occupy his mornings (and sometimes afternoons as well). It was actually the other men _around_ Fai that had been worrying him.

Some of them seemed…restless around Fai. All the time, when Kurogane was retrieving the mage from the archery range, when they were eating, or when they were just taking a walk through the grounds, he felt eyes follow the blonde's every movement. Fai seemed to have no idea it was happening, but it greatly concerned Kurogane. His stomach was constantly churning with unease, especially when Fai was out of his sight.

He knew what these men wanted from Fai. The high-ranking commanders allowed to live within Yama-jou were privileged in some ways, but were deprived in others. For example, the lack of women in the castle. Down among the huts and tents of the common soldier he had seen some women and children, but he'd yet to see a single female while inside the walls of the compound. Surely they'd turned to alternate methods of satisfying their needs. And then this thin, delicate looking, blonde man had shown up and began living among them. It was no wonder some of their interests had been piqued. Kurogane had actually been surprised it had taken this long for them to notice Fai, but he realized that at first they must have hung back out of fear. After all, Fai was strange to them; pale, blonde, mute (or so they thought), and Kurogane knew that he was intimidating when he was always at the mage's side. But it wasn't enough to keep them away forever.

And every night Fai slept in a room all alone, a room with doors that couldn't be locked in any way, and in a building shared with many other men. Anything could happen to him while Kurogane was fighting at the Castle of the Moon with no way to reach him. That was his worst fear, that something would happen while he was gone and he'd have no way to help. He'd experienced that feeling of helplessness before, watching something happen before his very eyes and not being able to change anything. He never wanted to feel that way again. So the first change he wanted to make was about the sleeping arrangements, and he was going to ask about it today, while Fai was busy practicing archery.

He found Hiroto tending to a small section of one of the many gardens. There were caretakers and other servants that maintained the grounds, but Hiroto had confided to Kurogane that gardening helped him relax and that he often took it upon himself to do a little weeding. Lately Kurogane had been talking a lot with Hiroto. Despite their little clash on the battlefield a few nights ago, they'd been able to reconcile and as a result were a lot closer, a lot more comfortable with each other.

He found Hiroto kneeling on the ground, bent over a garden bed, a pile of small plants in a shallow basket by his side. As Kurogane approached him, he looked up and smiled. "Hello, Kurogane-san. How are you today?"

"Fine," Kurogane grunted. He waited, arms crossed, as Hiroto stood up, brushed the dirt off his hands and knees, and picked up his basket. He set off down a nearby path and Kurogane trailed after, a pace or two behind him.

"Can I do anything for you?" Hiroto asked as they walked together slowly, at a leisurely pace.

"Yes," Kurogane said carefully. Hiroto looked at him expectantly and he continued. "I've been thinking lately that I'd like to change my room assignment."

Hiroto slowed and looked him in the face, surprised. "Is there something wrong with your current room?"

"No, no, nothing like that." He cleared his throat. "Actually, I…would like to share a room with Fai."

"Oh." Hiroto's eyebrows shot up. But that was all he said, and after a moment's thought he started walking again. Kurogane felt his cheeks flush slightly as he followed, because he knew what Hiroto was thinking. And he wouldn't correct him, either, because his plan actually depended on this assumption being made. He even hoped the rumor would spread far and fast. If everyone thought that Fai was already taken, and by Kurogane no less, they'd be less likely to try and get to him.

Eventually they reached a small recess in a nearby wall that contained a small box, maybe three or four feet tall, with four wooden sides and about half-filled with dead and decaying plant matter. Hiroto added today's spoils to the lot and faced Kurogane again. "That can be arranged. When were you hoping to have it done by?"

"Soon. Tonight, if possible."

Hiroto laughed slightly, as if they were sharing a private joke. "Of course, of course. I should have known."

Kurogane's blush deepened at the implications of his words, but he was determined. "Yes, well, thank you. Please tell me when we can move."

"Oh, I will. I think I can have it done in a matter of hours." His smile had a slightly mischievous look about it as he added, "Good luck, Kurogane-san."

…

"Then we go this way," Kurogane muttered to himself. He was leading Fai to the building that housed their new room, but he was going mostly by memory because it was starting to get dark. Hiroto had made good on his word and by mid-afternoon he'd found Kurogane and told him that the preparations were complete. Kurogane had been relieved. He just wanted to get things settled today, and hopefully he'd be able to sleep more easily tonight than he had the last couple nights.

"And here we are." Kurogane stopped outside the door and looked back at Fai. He was holding the few possessions he'd obtained since he came to this world, basically just a couple changes of clothes, but he looked a little lost and unsure why he was here. He was actually kind of cute like that, his eyebrows quirked, a few folded robes clutched loosely to his chest, but a smile still on his face. He seemed confused but not worried, as if he knew that Kurogane wouldn't let anything bad happen.

Kurogane slid the door open and stepped into the room, slightly larger than his last had been, but set up more or less the same way. Fai peered curiously over his shoulder, saying something in a somewhat sarcastic voice that ended with the phrase 'Kuro-pii'. But when Kurogane stepped aside and allowed him access to the room, his attitude became a little more serious and he crossed the threshold.

The blonde walked slowly to the center of the room, standing between the two _futon_ that had been laid on the floor for them. He turned in a circle as he looked around the simple room and nodded approvingly, dropping his clothes onto the floor, in one of the corners. He clearly understood that this was their new home; that they weren't just here for a visit. Kurogane shut the door and crossed the floor to stand beside him. He immediately turned around and smiled, apparently pleased with the arrangements.

After a moment Kurogane sat down on the _futon_ on the left, claiming it as his own. He didn't have much time before he had to go and join the rest of the army in battle, so he just did some brief stretches as he watched, with surprising interest, as Fai made himself comfortable on his new _futon_.

After spending considerable time walking around and rearranging the position of his cushion, the mage tucked himself in through quite a process of folding and unfolding and refolding his blankets. Finally, when he was all settled, he returned Kurogane's gaze and yawned tiredly, rubbing his eye like a child, but he didn't go to sleep . Instead he began to speak quietly in his nonsense language for a while, just gentle babble that Kurogane could tune out if he wanted, like the sound of wind in the trees. But he liked hearing the unfamiliar sounds and speech patterns of a language so different from his own, so he listened, not understanding a word. Gradually, Fai's voice slowed and lost momentum as he began to drift off while Kurogane was still sitting there, loosening his muscles and joints. When he next glanced up, Fai was softly snoring.

Kurogane chuckled softly under his breath as he finished his preparations for the night by putting on his simple, lightweight armor, a gift from Yasha. He'd been borrowing a breastplate from Hiroto, but his chest was broader than most men's, so the king had him fitted and a set made especially for him. In addition to a chest piece, there were also greaves and gauntlets. He didn't like full armor, as it impeded his movements, but he was grateful for a little protection.

After he pulled on the last piece he knew that it was about time for him to leave. He leaned over and blew out their candle, the only source of light in the room other than natural moonlight. Fai shifted in his sleep as Kurogane stood and left the room, but didn't wake, even as he slid the door shut behind him.

…

Kurogane returned to the room more than an hour later, bone-tired, his new armor already in need of a good cleaning. He was ready to just curl up and forget another miserable night of dancing around on the battlefield, pretending he wasn't a skilled fighter, just so that he wouldn't have to kill anybody. He fought, never good enough to disarm his opponent, never bad enough to get himself hurt. Occasionally, someone fighting by his side would notice his apparent struggles and lend a hand. If their enemy died, it was always by the hand of the other man. It was a frustrating and tiring way of going about it, but it was the only solution Kurogane had been able to come up with. He looked forward more and more to coming home to a warm, soft bed.

He entered the room silently and felt his mouth tugging into a small smile at Fai's sleeping form. He was glad he hadn't woken him coming in. Then he removed his breastplate and armguards as quickly and quietly as possible before sinking down onto his own cushion, sighing as the tension in his shoulders and back relaxed away.

After reveling in the sensation of physical relief, he rolled onto his side, his back facing Fai, and tried to fall asleep. He thought it would be a quick process because his body was exhausted but his brain, unfortunately, just wouldn't stop buzzing. The problem was that he kept thinking too much about Fai and this whole situation.

He knew what it had sounded like when he'd asked to share a room with Fai. It had sounded like they were in a physical relationship. It wasn't true of course, but just _knowing_ everyone else's expectations seemed to make him hyper-aware of Fai lying right behind him. Every noise that Fai made, every breath, every tiny shifting of the covers, he could hear with absolute clarity. His back tingled just knowing that Fai was only a foot or two away, as if he was expecting at any moment to be touched by him. It was a strange sensation, and it made him nervous. He'd shared a room with Fai plenty of times before, but he'd never felt like this.

Still unable to sleep, he turned over and faced Fai. He could just see his outline in the dim light. He was lying on his back and had his blanket tucked all the way up to his chin. No part of his body was exposed except his face. Kurogane snorted. _Guarded even in his sleep_. He watched his chest rising and falling slowly in a comforting rhythm. Kurogane did feel somewhat relieved, and he was glad that he didn't have to worry about Fai anymore. And after a moment of further contemplation, he realized that what all the others assumed didn't matter. _I don't care if everyone thinks he's my lover or something_, he thought, smiling slightly. Those opinions meant nothing to him, because he'd accomplished what he'd wanted, and he was happy about that.

Fai was safe.

…

_Day 21_

From the spot where he was sitting, Kurogane could see the setting sun perfectly. He had a feeling that this spot, tucked away in a secluded corner of a rock garden, had been chosen for a bench for just this reason.

Fai, who barely ever left his side, was wandering around nearby, though he was out of sight at the moment. It was a rare moment of solitude for the ninja, whose days were now always divided between exercising in the mornings, spending time with Fai in the afternoons and evenings, and then traveling to the battlefield every night. It was a constant cycle.

He'd realized this morning, counting the notches he'd been carving into a length of wood every day, that he and Fai had been in Yama for three weeks. The days had just begun to blur together as he'd gotten caught up in the daily rhythms of this world, and he was used to it before he even knew it. Part of the reason was that it reminded him of his home; the language, food, dress, and customs were all so similar. But he couldn't forget the journey that had gotten him here.

Looking out at the distant horizon, he wondered, for the first time in a while, where Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona were. If they'd landed on this world, he would have expected them to show up within a few days. The kid was resourceful, and if he'd been able to see the castle from his location, he would have headed straight for it.

So could it be possible that they _didn't_ land in Yama? And if they'd ended up in a different world, would they ever be reunited? And if they never met again, could he and Fai ever leave without the help of Mokona? Of course he couldn't answer these questions, but they all led to the one that he'd been dancing around, that he'd avoided asking himself, for some time.

Would he mind spending the rest of his life here, if he had to?

He didn't know how to answer that one quite yet, either. This world was comforting in its familiarity, but it wasn't home. If he had no choice but to stay here, he knew that he would eventually adapt. He might have to leave the Yasha Clan and explore the surrounding countryside if their battles for the Castle of the Moon never ended, because there was no way he could continue these fights for the rest of his life.

He was pulled from his reverie when he heard Fai gasp, somewhere to his right and behind him. His whole body tensed and his hand moved automatically to Souhi as he turned to see what was the matter. But the mage was laughing, crouching down and examining a rock that he'd kicked and broke, revealing an interior of small, purplish crystals. He picked up the pieces and held them in the waning sunlight, purple specks of light reflecting off the surface of the stone and dotting his face and neck.

The feeling of alarm that had briefly filled Kurogane's stomach dissipated just as quickly as it had come, only to be replaced with a different kind of unease. He'd nearly forgotten about Fai for a moment. It went without saying that Fai could not function independently in Yama, at least not yet, so whatever decision Kurogane made about the future he was making for both of them. It made a big difference.

Fai ran up to him, shoving the shards of broken geode in his face. Kurogane nodded to appease his excited chattering, but he barely even saw the rock, he was still so wrapped up in his own thoughts.

Despite everything, Fai seemed to be content here. He wasn't constantly flashing smiles like he usually did, but Kurogane actually saw that as an improvement. And if he was happy to be living in Yama-jou for now, then Kurogane would keep putting up with the nightly conflicts and stay with him.

* * *

**_futon _****– pretty sure you all know what this means, so yeah…traditional Japanese-style bedding. **

**Also a note, I wrote 'futon' when referring to two cushions because in Japanese the word can be singular or plural. This is the way I'll usually treat Japanese words, just for future reference. : 3**

**Thanks for reading! : D And thanks for new followers and favoriters!**


	7. Questions

**This chapter's a little funky cause I had to change stuff, and now the whole thing is from Fai's POV. Sorry. That won't happen again, there'll be at least one section from each of our boys in every chapter.**

**Thanks for the reviews, and for new followers/favoriters! Special thanks to the Guest that left a review, too! But I have to apologize…if the last chapter got your hopes up that development of their relationship was picking up, well…it's still gonna be awhile. xD**

**Chapter 7: Questions**

* * *

_Day 25, night_

Fai readjusted his blanket, smoothing a few wrinkles from it, simply to find something to do with himself as he waited for Kurogane to return.

Sometimes he fell asleep before Kurogane even left, and sometimes while he was gone. But then there were nights when he wanted to stay up and wait for him to come home. His lips tugged into a small, almost bitter, smile. _Home._ He'd begun using the word unconsciously to describe this place; this world, and specifically, this room. But after what he thought must have been almost a month, he had to accept that they were here to stay. Not to mention the fact that Kurogane had moved them to this bigger room in a different, more secluded area of the compound, closer to the inner-most ring. It seemed more… _permanent_ than the last, in some way, so he figured he may as well get comfortable here.

Kurogane had been gone for a long time, longer than he usually was. Fai didn't get anxious anymore like he had the first few nights; there was no point in it. But when the time dragged on like this, he began to feel uncomfortable and jumpy, his eyes darting to the door every time he heard a noise. After yet another false alarm of this nature, he turned his head languidly to one side, sick of the tortuous game he was playing with himself. He was tired but he refused to go to sleep until Kurogane returned.

Moonlight fell onto the empty cushion beside Fai, reflecting off the white material and making it bright enough to see the whole, empty room. He'd opened one of the doors to get a little relief from the heat, but now that it was cool he didn't feel like getting up to shut it. Instead he chose to burrow down deeper under his blanket, into the little pocket of warmth he'd created. His eyes felt heavy and began to close but he shook his head, forcing them open. He had to stay awake.

He traced the patterns of light and shadow falling across Kurogane's bed with his eyes for the hundredth time that night, counting the number of squares once again. There was something sad about that empty cushion, the blanket folded neatly in preparation for sleeping. Maybe it reminded him of himself, in a way. He felt like it was the two of them, waiting together for Kurogane to come back, and only then would they all breathe easily once more and sleep.

There was a gentle rattling and Fai's head whipped around to find Kurogane standing in the doorway, kicking off his boots. His face and hands were clean and shining with water droplets. The armor he held in his arms was also gleaming and free of blood. Fai had noticed lately that Kurogane always washed himself before coming back to the room.

Kurogane stepped, barefoot, onto the mats that covered the floor, padding softly across the room. He placed his armor gently in a corner before returning to the center of the floor, where the two beds were set up. Fai let one hand escape the warmth of his blankets and gave him a small wave in greeting. Kurogane grunted in response, kneeling down and beginning to spread his blanket out, but stopped when he noticed the look Fai was giving him. He raised an eyebrow. _What_? he was asking.

Fai's eyes traveled along his finger as he raised it to point at the door that was open to the outside. Kurogane's head turned and he gave a sigh when he saw. Rolling his eyes, he got up and slid the door shut before lying back down in the ensuing darkness. Fai could hear him readjusting, getting himself comfortable, for a minute or two as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the sudden lack of light. By the time he could see clearly, Kurogane was snoring, dead to the world.

He always fell asleep so quickly after coming home from the mysterious battlefield that Fai _still _hadn't been invited to. He was beginning to get frustrated. Every night he lay there, wondering where this war was being fought and how Yasha managed to keep the carnage out of sight. It seemed impossible, and clearly Fai was missing something. Perhaps it had something to do with the strange power he could sense emanating from Yasha. _He could be even more powerful than I imagined. There's definitely something strange about him. I'll have to keep my guard up_-

But Fai yawned in the middle of his speculations, breaking his concentration. _Well, I'll think about it more tomorrow. I'm tired_. He always felt better with Kurogane asleep next to him. Now everything was right and his body demanded the rest it deserved. He wouldn't deny it any longer. He closed his eyes.

…

_Day 26_

Kurogane and Fai were going somewhere different this afternoon, somewhere within the walls that he'd never been to before. Hiroto led the way, speaking with Kurogane and acting quite lively. He'd really loosened up since they'd had first met him, at least when he was with Kurogane. And the ninja also seemed to enjoy the other's company. Sometimes Fai wondered about their relationship. How had Hiroto been able to get Kurogane to open up and be friendly so easily? Did it have to do with the change in Kurogane's whole mood that Fai had begun to notice? Now that they were getting settled here, he seemed more…relaxed or something, like he really belonged in this world.

Fai's musings dissipated as they approached their destination and he began to smell the distinct odor of animals coming from the wooden building in front of them. Curiously, he followed Hiroto and Kurogane through the doors and found they were in a stable, albeit unlike any stable he'd ever seen before.

The main difference was the animals being kept in the building. They were the large mounts that Fai had seen Yasha and a few others riding from a distance, but he could appreciate for the first time just how huge and bizarre they were.

He'd always compared them in his mind to horses, but now that he was up close, he saw that he couldn't really be further from the truth. These things were more lizard-like than he'd thought. They were taller than any man, with long, sturdy legs and an impressive neck. They also had a lengthy tail, very wide where it connected with their bodies and tapering to a point. They had powerful-looking jaws and teeth, and a short, sharp horn in the middle of their foreheads. The one in front of Fai had a shape like a crescent moon on its chest, and staring, completely white eyes.

He shifted a little nearer to Kurogane as Hiroto took them down the aisle that led between stalls on both sides. He didn't want to get too close to these intimidating creatures, which stamped their feet and snorted as the small group passed.

Hiroto took them about halfway down the length of the building before stopping in front of the stall of a particularly large specimen. Hiroto talked animatedly, gesturing towards the beast and Kurogane nodded along, occasionally asking a question, it seemed. Then Hiroto opened the gate and Kurogane, placing a hand on Fai's chest to tell him not to follow, went inside, inspecting the creature along with their guide.

Fai pouted. What was he supposed to do all alone in a stable? He looked around, feeling eyes on him from every direction, sending a shiver down his spine. It was kind of creepy in here. Maybe he'd just stay put and wait. But then, from amidst the general noises of the barn, he heard something distinctly out of place; soft laughter.

He glanced guiltily at Kurogane's back for a second before moving away from the stall, searching for the source of that sound. He moved slowly down the aisle, listening intently as the laughter got louder the further he went. He began checking every shadowy corner of each stall as he passed it, until he finally found what he was looking for.

Standing inside a stall with one of the creatures was a young man he'd never seen before. He was thinner and paler than most people here, and had shoulder-length, loose, brown hair and a kind face. He was smiling and laughing as the animal at his side rubbed its face against his cheek. Then he spoke to it in a gentle voice, patting its nose and stroking its neck lovingly.

Fai watched the interaction curiously. There was clear mutual affection and trust between the two, despite the obvious differences in physical ability. That monster could easily overpower the frail boy, but there wasn't a trace of fear on his face. Perhaps these beasts were friendlier than they appeared, if such a delicate boy was able to tame one. He moved a little closer to the front of the stall in order to see better, causing the straw beneath his feet to rustle. The boy looked up when he heard the noise.

His face immediately lit up when he saw Fai. Leaving the creature behind, he approached the blonde, talking excitedly and gesturing with his hands. Unsure of what to do, Fai nodded and smiled, playing along. He wished Kurogane were here to help him, but he was just out of earshot of this boy's mild chatter.

With one last affectionate stroke on the nose of the lizard, the boy seemed to say goodbye to his companion before letting himself out of the stall to stand beside Fai. He said something and cocked his head to one side, indicating that it was a question. Fai shrugged and nodded, hoping it was the right answer. The boy excitedly grabbed Fai's hand and began tugging him toward the stall that he'd just left, pulling him within a couple feet of it.

When he realized his companion's intentions, Fai shied away, removing his hand from the other's grasp. The boy's face fell as Fai backed away from the animal, shaking his head now. He didn't want to touch that thing. He'd seen them riding into _war_; he knew that these creatures were strong and ferocious and his instincts wouldn't let him forget it. This strange boy might feel comfortable with it, but Fai did _not_ feel the same way.

The brunette looked disappointed and asked Fai something in his soft voice, but the only thing the mage could do was keep shaking his head, a faint smile on his lips out of habit. He hoped he wasn't being rude, but he just didn't want his hand anywhere near the mouth of an unfamiliar animal.

"Fai-san!" he heard from his left. Hiroto and Kurogane were making their way towards them at a leisurely pace, done with whatever their business in the stable had been. Fai felt somewhat relieved as they came to stand by his side, surveying the situation. He stood to Kurogane's right side, hanging on his sleeve, the only one left out of the conversation. As they talked with the kid, the two older men began smiling, apparently finding something quite amusing. Fai wondered if it was at his expense, figuring it probably was.

Eventually he felt Kurogane touch his elbow, drawing his attention. Leaning down to speak in Fai's ear, he pointed at the young man, who was still chatting with Hiroto, and said quietly but clearly, "Aoi." Fai nodded slowly. That must be his name, the only words he'd managed to pick up in Kurogane's language so far.

Aoi turned back to the animal in the stall and absentmindedly stroked its neck as he and Hiroto talked. His eyes slowly turned and met Fai's gaze, smiling as he did so. "Kurogane-san," he said, before continuing in that dizzyingly fast manner of speech these people had.

Kurogane laughed at whatever was said and a moment later Fai felt one of the ninja's hands on his back, pushing him forwards. He tried to resist but Kurogane was a lot stronger than him, so he was pushed within a couple feet of the front of the stall against his will for the second time that day. Then he felt Kurogane's much larger hand covering his own, pulling both of their arms up and towards the creature. Fai took a sharp intake of breath, but there was nothing he could do.

His fingertips, held beneath Kurogane's, touched the animal's snout. It was smooth, cool, and slippery, made of tiny, overlapping scales. It felt somewhat like a snake that Fai had held before, but sturdier. Its hide was like personal armor, making it an ideal beast to ride into battle. The feel wasn't unpleasant, once he got used to it, and the creature made a slight humming noise in pleasure as they rubbed its nose. Fai giggled at the vibrations it sent through his arm, and he felt a little foolish for being nervous before. But it was a lot easier to be brave with Kurogane forcing him into it.

Kurogane said something to him softly, like he did with names. When Fai didn't react, he said again, more slowly, "To-ka-ge. _Tokage_." It was either the name of this particular specimen or the species in general, Fai couldn't tell, but it didn't really matter. But he finally had something to call them, at least.

He nodded this time, to tell Kurogane he'd understood, and he felt the other man back away from him a little, leaving him alone with the _tokage_. He gently ran his hand down the length of its nose, feeling a small smile come to his lips. It was kind of cute, really. Dangerous, but with a mild temper.

"Fai-san," he heard, and looked up to find Aoi looking at him intently, offering him the wooden handle of a pitchfork. Confused, he looked over his shoulder at Kurogane, only to find him smiling smugly, arms crossed. He turned back to Aoi, still innocently holding out the farm tool.

_What…did I get myself into…?_

…

_Day 29_

Fai had been working with Aoi and the _tokage_ for a few days now, in the afternoons after he practiced archery all morning. He still didn't know exactly how he'd gotten roped into doing the duties of a caretaker of the beasts, but Kurogane kept bringing him to the stables, and Aoi met him every time with enthusiasm before they began their chores. Cleaning, feeding, exercising the animals. It had just become another part of his life in this world, and he was glad to do it, as difficult as the work was. Before he had this job to do, the silent afternoons had tended to drag on, so at least he was doing something with himself now. He also hoped that learning more about the _tokage_ would help him somehow get invited to the battles, since he'd seen soldiers riding them before.

Today, he and Aoi had taken some of the _tokage_ down onto the plain that was home to the training grounds, in order for a few men to exercise the beasts and practice their riding. And, to Fai's surprise, Kurogane had appeared among them, choosing for himself the large beast he'd been examining with Hiroto the other day.

And now, while Kurogane and the others were riding the animals in a small marked-off area, Aoi was trying to show Fai the proper way to strap a saddle onto a _tokage_. But it was rather difficult to concentrate.

Fai had decided this morning that it must be the hottest day they'd experienced yet in this world, unbearably so. And it had only gotten worse as the day went on, the early-afternoon sun still beating down mercilessly upon the land. It was getting hard for Fai to breathe, even just standing still. So he shouldn't have been surprised when the riders had appeared, stripped to the waist in an attempt to keep themselves cool.. But for some reason he was, and for some reason his stomach did a tiny little flip when he saw Kurogane, shirtless like the others.

It's not like he'd never seen Kurogane without a covering on the top part of his body. But the ninja tended to be pretty conservative, so this was really the first time that Fai had seen him participating in any sort of…physical activity without a shirt at all. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't curious, and he got the feeling he wasn't the only one looking, either.

Kurogane just happened to be a lot more interesting than what Aoi was trying to teach him, that's all. So every couple of minutes he'd find his eyes drifting away from Aoi's hands, which were busy with various buckles and knots, and he'd begin to search out his dark companion among all the other riders. When he found him, his eyes would tear across his sculpted features, wondering how he'd never truly noticed them after all their time together. Of course, he'd always known Kurogane was strong, but he realized now that he'd never properly _looked_ at him before. His skin was tanned and smooth, his muscles toned and well-defined, but not bulging. It really suited his tall, graceful frame.

However, even though he noticed these things, Fai wasn't simply gaping at his muscles like an idiot; he'd noticed something for the first time, and it was _this_ that captured his attention.

On Kurogane's lower back there was an obvious, white scar that marred his otherwise flawless skin. Fai could see it from a distance, so it must have been fairly large, at least a few inches long and maybe an inch wide in the middle. It was jagged and rough, as though the flesh had been mangled and healed badly. Fai was burning to know its origin. Every time that Kurogane rode by close enough for him to examine it, his head whipped around to see, possibilities filling his mind in the few seconds he had until he passed.

Then Aoi would say, "Fai-san?" gently, and Fai would have to turn around and smile in apology, blushing slightly in embarrassment. But his mind stayed with Kurogane the whole time, and he absorbed very little from his lesson as he kept stealing glances whenever he could.

* * *

**I have no clue where Aoi came from. He just…inserted himself in the story. xD Well, he won't be too important. He'll probably kind of…disappear after this… o_o**

**_tokage_**** – lizard. I wasn't able to come up with anything creative…xD Anyways, let's assume this is short for a word that's a little more complex, eh? …Please play along, lol. (Unless anyone knows if they have an actual name?)**

**And Kurogane's scar is my own idea. While not exactly canon, I think it's plausible that he'd have a few. It will be explained eventually, though it's really just a point of interest. ^ ^**


	8. Progress

**Hey all, thanks for follows, favorites and reviews, as always~ You guys keep me motivated! Thanks fai4ever, for leaving a review as a guest. : )**

**I apologize, this is a kinda lame, somewhat short chapter after a pretty long wait… -_-**

**Chapter 8: Progress**

* * *

_Day 31_

As the weeks officially turned into a whole month in this world, Fai found that it was becoming harder and harder for him to smile. The falsely cheerful attitude he was best known for simply wasn't coming to him easily like it usually did. He thought that it had to do with the fact that he couldn't hide himself behind his teasing words, which had always helped him stay in character. He no longer felt motivated to put up a barrier, considering the distance already present between himself and Kurogane caused by their inability to speak to each other. Not to mention that it was _just_ him and Kurogane now. The children and Mokona weren't here, expecting him to be a certain way. The effort didn't seem necessary anymore, so he'd gradually stopped trying.

But then…why did he sometimes feel his lips curving upwards ever so slightly anyways? He wasn't doing it on purpose, that was for certain. It seemed to be happening to him without his knowledge or consent. Like now, for example. He was just smiling, walking through this luscious garden with Kurogane, a white flower in his hair.

Kurogane had picked the flower up off the ground. It had fallen from a nearby tree, which was losing petals every time the wind blew; the garden looked like it had been struck by a sweet-smelling snowstorm. But this one was a full blossom, with some of the stem left intact as well. Kurogane had lifted it to his nose and inhaled deeply in order to catch its delicate scent, his brow relaxing as he did so. Then he'd looked at Fai as though he wanted to tell him something about the flower; its importance in his culture, what it reminded him of, or something of the like. But of course it was impossible. Instead he'd shaken his head and simply offered the flower to Fai. He'd taken it and they'd continued on their walk, a leisurely stroll through a familiar garden near their room. After a while he'd tucked the flower behind his ear, earning an eye roll from Kurogane. That's when he'd felt his mouth shift subtly, just barely rising at the corners.

It was completely natural and unforced, but that's what was so disconcerting about it. He couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled and really meant it. His stomach churned uneasily inside him, and the ghost of a smile slid off his face at the unfamiliar sensations. But it had been there, and it wouldn't be easy to forget.

…

_Day 32_

Fai's fingers trailed along a smooth, cold, metal edge, exploring every divet and imperfection in their path. Then they brushed lightly across the worked, raised design in the center of the flat plane of metal, a crest of some kind that he'd seen in other places around the compound. Afternoon sunlight poured into the room and caught the dull metal in just the right way, giving it a new life. The reflections created the impression that it could be glowing from within. It was beautiful.

The object of his attention was a piece of the armor that Kurogane wore every night, the breastplate that Yasha had gotten made for him. He was sitting, cross-legged, on Kurogane's side of their bedroom, the rest of the armor scattered about him in disarray as he examined and discarded each piece in turn.

He wasn't doing anything specific with it, just looking curiously at the armor, feeling its surprisingly light weight and looking for signs of scratches and damage. He was simply spending a few spare moments checking it out, wondering vaguely about how they all fit together and what materials they were made of but not going to any great lengths to find out. He was bored and it had seemed like an interesting activity to occupy his mind for half an hour.

After he'd looked all over the chest piece, he went to put it aside like all the others, but something made him pause. Lifting it back up, he held the breastplate up against his own chest. He pouted a little to see exactly how much broader than his own chest it was. If he tried it on, he'd look ridiculous, and he could only imagine how ineffective it would prove in battle. He'd probably hurt _himself_ if he had to wear it. He'd never really compared himself to Kurogane before, and even though it didn't matter, it still hurt his pride as a man just a touch.

With a small sigh he placed it on the floor. He looked around to confirm what he already knew, that the breastplate had been the last piece of armor. The only thing left was…Souhi.

It's not like Kurogane had _hidden_ the sword in any way, or had made it obvious that Fai was forbidden to touch it. Still, Fai got the feeling he was breaking an unspoken rule as he picked it up from its spot where it always leaned against the wall and crawled back to Kurogane's bed, where he settled back down with his prize. Eagerly, he began turning it over in his hands, holding it in the light and bending his head in order to see every detail better.

Upon close examination of the scabbard, he discovered that it was not as clean and perfect as it seemed from afar. It was scratched and flecked with dried blood. Kurogane tried to keep it clean, Fai knew, but it was impossible to completely erase the stains of war. Slowly, he unsheathed the sword, barely a whisper being made as the blade slid from its covering.

If even the dull metallic color of the armor seemed to glow in the afternoon light, then this sword looked as though it had actual flames dancing across its smooth surface. It was obvious that Kurogane took more time to maintain his weapon than his armor or sheath. There were no scratches or other visible signs of damage on the blade, despite its constant use in battle. It was a beautiful, perfect sword, gleaming innocently in the light.

Curiosity overtook Fai and he eventually gave in to temptation. He carefully touched the edge of the blade with the pads of his fingers. Without putting any weight on his fingertips, he ran them down the length of the blade, but he was met with a surprise. It was much sharper than he'd thought it would be.

"Ow!" He quickly pulled his hand back and stuck his index finger in his mouth. It was just a little cut, nothing to be concerned about, but he really hadn't expected that the sword would be so _sharp_. Swords weren't exactly weapons of precision slicing, were they? Kurogane must really take care of it and sharpen it often. Maybe even excessively so. He returned the sword to its sheath, done with his examination for now, having learned his lesson. Beautiful as it was, Souhi was a weapon of war.

He placed the sword amongst all the other wreckage from his whirlwind venture through Kurogane's things and quickly slipped out of the room, off to find Aoi at the stables. _He_ didn't plan on being there when Kurogane got back, that was for sure.

…

_Day 35_

Kurogane thought that he'd done everything that had been asked of him by Hiroto and Yasha in the past month. He'd fought in their war (though he had not killed, but that was a personal matter). He'd obeyed their orders. He'd followed the customs of Yama, which differed slightly from what he was used to in Nihon. He'd even accepted that he may be living here for the rest of his life, and had become so accustomed to Yama-jou. So now he thought that he deserved some answers to a few questions he'd been holding on to since he'd first arrived here.

He and Fai were sitting at a low table in a private dining room whose only other occupant was Hiroto. He'd asked Kurogane to eat with him that evening and Kurogane had accepted, on the condition that he could bring Fai along. He may have changed their sleeping arrangements, but he still didn't like the way eyes followed him and Fai whenever they were out among the other soldiers. The only ones he trusted alone with the mage were Hiroto and Aoi, and even that was only to a certain extent.

Dinner had been eaten long ago, and the conversation, sparse as it was, had also died away. Hiroto had offered them drinks, and now Fai was acting giggly and kept leaning on him. Kurogane wondered vaguely if he was actually drunk as he repeatedly pushed him away, beginning to get tired of his little game. He had stayed here with Hiroto out of politeness, but he really wanted to return to his room and get ready before going to battle; not to mention Fai was embarrassing him. He hoped they could make a graceful exit soon, but he was determined to ask his most pressing questions and receive answers to them first.

He cleared his throat. "Hiroto-san," he said. "I want to ask you something. I hope you don't find it an impertinent question."

"Ask what you will," Hiroto said. He took a drink from his bottle, and as he put it down Kurogane noticed for the first time that his eyes were slightly bloodshot and his cheeks flushed. He hoped that the alcohol would loosen his tongue and not his temper.

In a careful, measured voice, Kurogane said, "I want to know where we go every night, and who we fight, and why. What does Yasha-ou have against those people?"

Hiroto didn't react for at least a full minute. He gazed past Kurogane, at a spot somewhere on the wall behind him, apparently thinking. Still, Kurogane wasn't convinced he'd get an answer even if he let him think for a year. Hiroto had been so reluctant to reveal any personal information about his king, and Yasha himself had barely said a word to Kurogane since they'd first arrived. It was true that he and Hiroto had grown closer over the last month, bonding through their shared experiences as soldiers, but their relationship hadn't strayed much into their personal lives. He'd never asked him a question like this, so he wasn't sure how much Hiroto would be willing to tell him.

Eventually Hiroto opened his mouth and said, "That is a difficult question to answer, my friend."

Kurogane felt disappointment flood his stomach, though he wasn't planning on giving up yet. It would be disrespectful to push the subject, but he really felt that he had the right to know. He would have to fight for it. "I really-"

"However," Hiroto said, cutting him off. Kurogane shut his mouth immediately. "I will tell you what I can."

Kurogane waited a moment longer while Hiroto finished organizing his thoughts before beginning. "The easiest question to answer is your first. The place where we are transported every night has come to be known as the Castle of the Moon to the Yasha Clan. It is the small, black dot that you can see in the night sky, always beside the moon."

Kurogane nodded. He'd guessed as much through observation. Hiroto continued, "As to who we fight, that's also easily answered. They are called the Ashura Clan."

Kurogane had heard this name before, so he nodded. However, when Hiroto had told him the first time, they had been minutes away from battle and he hadn't given it much thought. Now that he could take the time to consider it, he realized that he'd heard that name before even arriving in Yama. His eyes widened as he recognized it as the name of the god of the opposing group from Shara. Yasha's counterpart. It kind of made sense, in a strange way, though he still didn't understand the connection between this world and that one.

But his reaction was nothing compared to Fai's. The mage had one of Kurogane's arms wrapped in both of his own, pressing his cheek against the ninja's shoulder, and playfully giving him a squeeze from time to time. But the moment Hiroto said Ashura, the only word he could have understood, his whole mood changed. He released Kurogane and slowly leaned forward until his forearms rested on the table, staring at Hiroto as though willing himself to learn their language just so he could hear the rest of that sentence. His mouth opened like he wanted to try saying something, even if it was incomprehensible, but Kurogane shifted his leg and kicked him under the table. As far as Hiroto knew, Fai was a mute, and he'd rather not be caught in a lie. Hiroto would certainly get angry.

Fai closed his mouth, and leaned back a little, but his eyes never left Hiroto. He was fully aware and no longer acting silly either, proving Kurogane's point about the alcohol. As he backed away from the table, his hands dropped off it, one falling to the floor but the other landing on Kurogane's knee. Kurogane didn't bother flicking it away, instead just listening intently, waiting for Hiroto to continue.

If Hiroto noticed Fai's unusual behavior, he didn't let it show. He just explained a little further. "We have been fighting against the Ashura Clan for longer than I know. We do not know where they arrive from, as we have never seen a trace of them outside that battlefield. They do not live near our lands, in any case, for we have searched for them. Every night we go the Castle and every night they also appear, and then…" He sighed bitterly. "We fight. We cause pain and bloodshed. That's the way it's always been."

Kurogane waited for a moment but Hiroto seemed to have sunken down to somewhere deep within himself. After some time of the brooding silence Kurogane decided to risk gently prompting him to continue. "But why? What are you fighting for?"

Hiroto blinked and kept going as though he'd never paused. "It is said that he who gains control of the Castle of Moon will be granted his heart's desire. It is the promise of this prize that has led to all the violence between the clans of Yasha-ou and Ashura-ou."

As the final word fell from Hiroto's lips, Kurogane felt Fai's hand, still resting on his leg, tighten into a fist around a handful of robes. Glancing down, he saw that his knuckles were white, though his expression remained absolutely blank.

He grabbed Fai's wrist and held it until he felt the mage's grip on his clothes loosened. Still, as he pulled his hand away, Fai's palm brushed up against one of Kurogane's fingers, and he noticed that it felt somewhat cold and clammy. Sometimes the body betrayed what the mage tried so hard to keep hidden; his real feelings. That hand could tell him more than Fai's unreliable face ever could.

Something about that name had upset him.

…

_Day 38_

Fai was getting tired of waiting for somebody to notice him and let him tag along with the army one of these nights. And then, a few days ago, out of nowhere, he'd heard Hiroto say the name Ashura. He didn't know what the context was, exactly, but it had made him nervous and restless. After more than a month after leaving Shara, the last place where he'd heard that name, he was hoping he was done with any and all Ashuras. So when he had resurfaced once again, Fai decided that he'd have to take matters into his own hands to try and figure out what was going on, since no one else could explain it to him. But before he did anything drastic, he wanted to test out his shooting skills in a different setting than the archery range. He'd learned a lot over the last month, and now he was ready to see what he could do.

He'd taken his usual bow and a few arrows in a quiver slung across his back, but instead of setting up at an available target, he'd simply…gone for a little walk.

Kurogane would probably be mad when he found out. And he _would_ find out, too. He always came to watch Fai practicing for a few minutes, sometimes reminding him to lift his elbow higher with a gentle tap, but otherwise just standing there with his arms crossed, a serious expression on his face. Surely when he came by today and Fai was nowhere to be found he'd be furious, but Fai didn't care. This was something he really wanted to do.

He left the grassy plain that extended from Yasha's compound in all directions and entered the cool shadows of the forest along its edge. He didn't know if it was safe among these trees, he didn't know how far he could go before leaving Yasha's territory, and he didn't know if it would be easy to find his way back. Nevertheless, he stepped further into the darkness, drawing an arrow from his quiver and resting it against the nocking point of the bowstring.

Fai had never been hunting before, and he knew that his inexperience would really hinder his chances of getting anything, but he was going to try. He wanted real-world experience with his new weapon of choice. He walked through the forest slowly, trying to minimize the sound of his feet on the ground and his breathing. The whole time he was aware of everything around him, his eyes following anything that moved, his ears catching the slightest rustle of leaves or cracking twig. He could feel his own steady heartbeat in his chest.

Something must have sensed his presence and got scared. A blur of brownish fur darted from beneath a bush and ran up the nearest tree. Fai drew his arrow back and released it, but he gave himself almost no time to even attempt aiming or drawing the bow properly. He was too slow and way off target; the arrow hit a tree several inches in front and to the left of the tree he'd been aiming for. He heard a sound like cracking wood, and he doubted it was the tree.

He frowned. That wouldn't do. Even though he'd been concentrating on his surroundings, he hadn't really been prepared to shoot. It took him too long to draw the bow _and_ aim at a moving target. He'd have to try a different approach.

…

Hours later, Fai had tried _several _different approaches, all unsuccessful. He was hot, tired, and thirsty. It wasn't getting dark quite yet, but the sun was definitely on the decline. He'd missed his duties in the stables today, and Kurogane was probably looking everywhere for him by now. But he was down to his last arrow, and there was no way he was going home with just one left in his quiver.

He was hidden behind a tree at the edge of a small, grassy clearing in the woods, the arrow nocked but not drawn. He was waiting patiently for his prey to come to him this time. It was the only reasonable strategy he could think of that he hadn't tried yet, and besides, his feet were sore from walking. He welcomed the break.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement. He watched as a small, furry creature, unfamiliar to him, slowly made its way into the clearing. It was nibbling at the grass, seemingly unaware that Fai was even there. Fai could _feel_ the adrenaline pumping through his veins. This is what he'd been waiting for.

The animal was easily within his range. Now his biggest challenge was to not alert it of his presence and scare it away. In a moment of brilliance, he'd positioned himself downwind from the clearing, so hopefully his scent wouldn't give him away, but he was worried he'd make a noise while shooting. Trying to remember to breathe, he began to draw the bow as smoothly and silently as possible. When his hand was close to his ear, he adjusted his aim like he'd done hundreds, if not thousands, of times at the archery range. When he was certain that he had it, he took one last breath and released the string.

The next second happened very quickly and yet very slowly at the same time. Everything had a strange sort of clarity, as though he was seeing it in slow-motion. At the same time, though, he wished that one single second would never end, never reach its ultimate conclusion. He could see as the small creature seemed to move its head a fraction of an inch just as the arrow reached it, as though it had only become aware of danger the instant before it struck. Then the arrow pierced its side and it let out a shrill cry as it fell to the ground. Fai gasped, but he could only watch as it struggled for a few moments before it stopped and grew silent. He made himself stand still for a little while longer, just to be sure it was dead.

After what felt like an hour, Fai stepped dazedly into the clearing, his eyes still transfixed on the animal. Its gray-brown fur was stained a dark red down its side, its eyes were open and glassy. Fai was breathing hard like _he_ had been the one struggling for his life, his heart racing. With a slightly trembling hand, he shut the eyes of the dead creature. He didn't want to see it staring at him like that.

Once he'd done that, he felt better. He retrieved his arrow and wiped it clean on the grass as best he could. He didn't know if this kind of animal was edible, and he hadn't brought a way of transporting it home, in any case. He hadn't _really_ expected that he'd kill anything. It had been rather a shock when he'd actually done it, and he wasn't sure what to do now.

He took a deep breath and as he let it out he forced himself to calm down a little. He was being ridiculous, getting worked up over a little animal. He'd finally done what he'd set out to accomplish a month ago. He'd proven to himself that he was ready to join Kurogane in battle, that he _deserved_ to be there. That's all. As he continued to breathe and tell himself that, any traces of guilt or disgust drained from him, and a new layer was added to his already hardened heart. He would distance himself from the innocent, dead creature in front of him the same way he distanced himself from everything else.

* * *

**I've never been hunting before, even though I've asked my dad to take me…anyways, sorry, I just made junk up, no idea if it has any basis (too lazy to do research today, you know?). xD But, I mean, Fai doesn't have experience either, so we're at the same level on that front, lol.**


	9. Battle Scars

**Thanks for the support, as always guys! You all are the best, seriously. I don't deserve you! Also, thanks to the guest that left a review for the last chapter! And I'm REALLY sorry that it's been so long…I have no excuse…but I've had this chapter for a long time and at this point I don't even really care if it's not quite the quality I was trying for, I really need to update! XD**

**Chapter 9: Battle Scars**

* * *

_Day 41_

The only sounds Fai could hear were the steady dripping of rain outside and the occasional rustle as Kurogane looked through a stack of papers filled with indecipherable characters, diagrams, and charts. Fai shot a look in his direction. He was sitting cross-legged at a low table that he'd brought into the room the day before. His brow was slightly creased as he focused on the writings before him.

Fai was sprawled out on his back on the floor. Their bedding was put away for the day, giving them a little more space. That was because they wouldn't be leaving the room any time soon. It was raining.

When it had been cloudy and rainy when Fai woke up, he'd been glad to think he'd be getting a little relief from the sweltering heat they'd been experiencing recently. But after breakfast one of the men that Kurogane sparred with occasionally came up to them and spoke briefly to the ninja. Afterwards Kurogane had taken Fai back to the room and they'd been here ever since. Fai had assumed, as the rain and winds outside grew in intensity, that the weather was to blame. So they'd stayed in.

It had been so _quiet _all day. Earlier he'd tried talking to distract himself, but Kurogane had shushed him right away. That was a few hours ago, at the very least. He'd tried to fall asleep, but by now, the silence was really starting to get to him. It was bad enough that _he_ spent most of his time without a word passing his lips, but the uninterrupted stillness all around him was beginning to drive him crazy. His ears were ringing, and he was beginning to feel like it was a physical presence, surrounding him and pressing him from all sides. It was overwhelming. His skin crawled and he could feel the blood pounding throughout his whole body. He turned over onto his side, to face Kurogane.

When Kurogane noticed the movement he glanced up. Their eyes met for only a brief moment before he went back to his reading, but it was enough. Fai ate up that look. His eyes were so calm, and so frighteningly penetrating, like he could see right through Fai and into his mind. He wanted to turn away; he wanted to smile so that it was impossible for Kurogane to look at him like that. He wanted to lie and hide. But he was frozen, and it was too late anyways.

Kurogane knew. He knew what Fai was going through, what he was thinking. He knew that he was silently suffering in this world, how hard it was. It was all over his face. But he wasn't the type to baby Fai for anything. He'd been kinder, gentler, maybe more understanding lately. That didn't mean he was going to coddle him every time he got upset. He was just…letting Fai know that he understood. That was all.

Kurogane moved his head slightly. He was inviting Fai to come sit with him. He figured that anything was better than lying on the floor listening to the endless silence, so he sat up. Some of the anxiety in his chest eased as he crawled across the matted floor and sat next to Kurogane. He folded his hands on the table in front of him and looked around. Yes, this was definitely better than it had been before, with Kurogane right beside him, but the quiet was still disconcerting, still unsettling.

He started humming, as low as he could in the back of his throat. It seemed that Kurogane didn't notice at first, so Fai kept humming tunelessly, gradually increasing in volume. Kurogane's eyebrow twitched, and he glared a little, but it wasn't until Fai tried whistling that he lost it.

Apparently completely unable to concentrate on his reading with the noise Fai was making, he slammed his hands down on the table with a loud thud. Fai, surprised, immediately stopped but it seemed to be too little, too late. He could only watch as his black-haired companion stood up and crossed the room. Kurogane shut the sliding door behind him with a little more force than Fai thought was necessary, and then he was alone.

Now he _really_ felt lost. Kurogane had gotten angry at him for humming a little? He'd thought for sure that Kurogane had known what was bothering him. He had just been trying to drive away some of that lonely silence. He didn't realize it was so annoying that it would drive Kurogane away from _him_.

He slid back down to the floor, curling up on his side. It was pressing in on him again, worse than before. He closed his eyes and began whispering to himself, just rambling sentences. Anything to keep that silence, that cold, dark silence, away from him. "Kurogane probably hates me, but he's a kind person. He'll come back. He'll hate every minute he spends with me, and I don't deserve him. But he'll definitely come back to me. I won't…I won't be…alone…"

Memories he hadn't examined closely for years pushed to the surface of his mind. The last time he'd felt so helpless, so weak, so alone in the world…_so cold_…

His eyes snapped open immediately. No. He wasn't going there. He raised a trembling hand to the screen door that led outside, just a few inches in front of him. He slid it open and fresh, cool air slapped him in the face. He gulped it down and pulled himself up to sit in the doorway. The rain poured down a foot or two away. The overhang of the roof didn't let any water touch him even when the door was open. It sounded like a waterfall and smelled like rich, green life.

He sat there and stared at the gray streams of water falling from the sky. He took deep breaths of fresh air and watched the water dripping off the building. It was calming and the dull roar of the rain helped numb his brain. He managed to sink into a kind of trance, his mind becoming entirely blank. He didn't have to think about it anymore. He lost track of time and just drifted in the rain.

He was broken from his reverie when Kurogane reentered the room, much sooner than he'd expected. If he had to guess, it had only been half an hour or so. Fai turned around swiftly and lifted his wide, apologetic eyes up to meet Kurogane's. But he didn't look angry at all. Actually…he was smiling, despite the fact that he looked decidedly wet. Fai's gaze dropped down to the ninja's hand, which held something that kept making a high-pitched, tinkling sound. It was a glass wind chime.

Fai felt his eyebrows furrow. _What is that for?_ _Is _that_ what he went to go get?_ He watched as Kurogane crossed to his side of the room and then stepped outside. He tied the wind chime to the underside of the overhanging part of the roof. The wind caught it instantly, and the pleasant ringing sound filled the air as it swayed back and forth.

After he tied it up, Kurogane stepped back inside and sat down in the same spot he had before he left, his back facing Fai. He picked up his papers and went back to reading as though nothing had happened.

Fai was confused. He looked back and forth between the wind chime and Kurogane, wondering what the point of it was. Had Kurogane gotten this little thing…for _him_? After a moment he realized that Kurogane hadn't been angry at him at all. He'd just been a little exasperated and had tried to find a solution to his problem. And he'd thought of a wind chime. It was such a strange gesture. And it was also…sweet.

Fai giggled aloud and, kneeling, fell on Kurogane from behind, leaning heavily on him. He wrapped his arms around his chest, squeezing him tightly. His shoulders were damp, but Fai leaned his cheek against them anyways. Kurogane grunted unhappily but gave him a whole three seconds before gently pushing him off. Then Fai lay on his side on the matted floor, his eyes never straying from Kurogane's serious face as he kept reading. He smiled slightly when the tinkling started up again as a breath of air stirred outside. Every time he heard that wind chime, he'd remember this moment.

And maybe…maybe he _would_ feel just a little less lonely.

…

_Day 44_

Fai was lying down, breathing slowly, his eyes closed. He could hear Kurogane also taking deep, steady breaths just a couple feet away. They were both waiting.

He stayed in that position without moving for a long time until finally he heard Kurogane get up and exit the room, Souhi clinking slightly against his armor. Immediately his eyes snapped open and he climbed out of bed, fully dressed and alert. Hopefully Kurogane thought he was already fast asleep, but that was far from the truth. He was finally ready to see what went on in these moonlit battles.

He'd hidden his bow and a quiver just outside their room earlier in the day. Taking these things with him now, he jogged to catch up to Kurogane and then slowed to keep within a couple hundred feet of him. He followed the ninja as he exited the building and crossed the courtyard outside, heading in the direction of a group of people. As they reached the crowd he tried to blend in with the other men, keeping fairly close to Kurogane but still a safe distance away. He had that funny feeling, one that was usually right, that he'd get in trouble if he was found too soon.

He earned some strange looks from the guys around him, but he barely even noticed. He was too busy watching Kurogane chatting with Hiroto, who was astride a _tokage_ but had bent down to listen more closely to the ninja. Yasha was also nearby, his stare blank and distant. Hiroto nodded at something Kurogane said and then he straightened. With a short word to the men gathered in the courtyard, they began moving out. Fai followed along, excited to see where they were going.

They left the compound and after a short walk stopped in a field. They hadn't gone very far from the castle at all. Fai looked curiously at the others around him to try and figure out if this was really their final destination, but he couldn't discern anything from their behavior. The men just milled around, stretching, swinging a sword, or talking and laughing boisterously while taking a swig from a bottle. Nothing unusual. There was a slight tension in the air, but that was all.

His desire to find out what was going on led him to be less cautious than he should have been. He wandered away from the group of three exceptionally large soldiers that he'd been hiding amongst and tried to get closer to the font of the crowd, where most of the higher ranking soldiers were. Unfortunately he lost track of Kurogane, but he figured that he must be-

"Fai!"

_Dammit._

Fai smiled and waved as Kurogane shoved his way through the crowd to get to him, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Kurogane had yelled at him and whacked him and chased him around before, but there had always been a certain playfulness in his eyes when that happened. He could tell that he was in _real_ trouble this time. Kurogane reached him and grabbed his upper arm tightly. Fai tried the wide-eyed and innocent look, but Kurogane just shook his head and began dragging him away, back in the direction from which they'd come. The whole time he was muttering darkly under his breath. He was probably listing all the ways he'd murder Fai later, when they weren't in front of all his comrades.

Fai went along with him slowly, disappointed that he didn't even get to see the battlefield before getting discovered. People in the crowd parted to let them through, eyeing them warily, a few laughing. Fai just stared at the ground, trying to avoid their faces. It turned out to be a good thing he was watching Kurogane's feet, because when the ninja stopped moving abruptly he was able to prevent himself from tripping. He looked up to see what impeded their progress.

Yasha, astride his large specimen of _tokage_, was directly in front of them, looking down from his superior position. His black eyes, which nonetheless looked pale because of the moonlight reflecting off of them, were calm, but held a hardness that Fai had not seen before. After a few seconds, in which no one said a word and the whole world seemed to stand still, Fai realized that Yasha wasn't looking at _him_ but instead was staring straight into Kurogane's eyes. Kurogane looked back steadily. He wasn't exactly defying Yasha, but he wasn't backing down from him either. The only thing that moved was the ends of Yasha's long hair, caught in a gentle breath of warm wind. Eventually Kurogane asked something, his voice low, his eyes narrowed.

With the tiniest hint of a smile, Yasha shook his head almost imperceptibly. Kurogane immediately bristled and argued back, but before he could get more than a few words out of his mouth everything around them went black.

It only lasted a few seconds before Fai found himself blinking in an entirely new location. He could see a rocky plain below them. This had to be it. The battlefield.

He slipped away from Kurogane, who was now having a heated discussion with Hiroto, to look at the sight. The moon was enormous from their vantage point. It looked closer somehow. Something nagged at the back of Fai's mind like he should know where they were, but it wasn't coming to him. He just looked in awe at the flat expanse at the bottom of the cliff, wondering why it felt familiar. He hardly felt surprised when an entire army materialized in the ground mist below them.

His thoughts were cut off when Kurogane grabbed him by the arm again. But this time he wasn't leading him _away_ from the general flow of people; they were joining the crowd, moving along with it as everyone followed some kind of predetermined path. Kurogane seemed resigned to the fact that Fai had found his way here. With a renewed spring in his step, Fai surged ahead of his companion, into the mass of soldiers, though Kurogane was quick to stay just behind him.

A short while later the two armies faced each other across a short distance of empty space. They were waiting for something, though Fai didn't know what. The tension between the two armies was nearly palpable. His feet drew him forwards almost without his knowing, but a heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder. Kurogane was glaring at him. He pointed to the ground at their feet before he turned and joined the front lines himself. As he did so, something in the air shifted and all the soldiers surged forward with a roar.

The earth vibrated beneath Fai's feet, and the clash of metal and the screams of both humans and beasts filled the air. It wasn't long before the scent of blood drifted towards Fai on the wind. He could feel the energy and adrenaline from those fighting; it was terrifying and exhilarating, even from a distance. The mage seemed to be the only one not engaged, the only observer in a bubble of calm.

He frowned faintly, but it's not like he even had a weapon suited for hand-to-hand combat. It would be suicide to walk up there now. Looking around, he noticed several of his fellow archers, most of them riding _tokage_ to stay above their companions, eyes constantly scanning the battle in front of them. There wasn't much they could do in this kind of fight, but they were always waiting, always ready, and occasionally loosed an arrow into the fray.

Fai found Kurogane again, now engaged with a man in armor of a slightly different style, obviously their adversaries here. But something about the way he was fighting didn't seem right to Fai. It was almost like…he wasn't trying. He was moving less efficiently, and he didn't deal a finishing blow even when the opportunity presented itself. Was he playing with his enemy? It didn't really seem like something Kurogane would do, and especially not in war, with the lives of other people at stake. He didn't have any reason to do it either, as far as Fai knew.

He thought it would be okay if he got a little closer, to investigate this strange occurance. Skirting around the center of the fighting, he was able to position himself to Kurogane's left. He was still outside the zone of danger, like Kurogane wanted, but he could see much better from here.

Kurogane definitely wasn't fighting at full capacity. But he didn't look hurt or tired. It was more like he was bored. He wasn't even breathing hard. All around him the carnage of war left people bleeding, crying out in pain, grunting in exertion and there _he _was, fighting half-heartedly. He didn't fit in with the image.

Fai watched this strange exchange for some time, wondering about the cause of it, but eventually something caught his eye. A group of three men, ducking behind a boulder not far from where Kurogane and his adversary were exchanging blows. They were deep in discussion, but it was obvious to Fai that they were talking about Kurogane. They kept gesturing in his direction and glancing over their shoulders at him. Fai's eyes narrowed as he watched them. Just what were they planning?

After a while they broke their cover and spread out slightly, all the while moving in Kurogane's direction. Fai looked back to the ninja to see how he was going to react to this new development, but he didn't seem to have noticed. He was still playing with the first guy, who was very tired now and fighting sloppily. The two of them had separated a little from their comrades fighting around them, ending up quite a way from the edge of the main battle. If Kurogane was outnumbered and attacked now, he wouldn't have any immediate help. It was a trap. Fai's hand tightened on his bow. He would have to be the one to do it.

He pulled an arrow out of his quiver and fit it into place, raising the bow. Despite how fast his heart was pounding, he was calm. He'd done this a thousand times in the past few weeks. He was ready for this. And Kurogane needed him.

With one final deep breath, he let the arrow loose and it flew towards one of the three advancing men. It hit him in the leg; probably not a fatal wound, but it stopped him in his tracks as he tumbled to the ground. The other two hesitated for a second when they saw him fall, but in the end they both ran flat-out towards Kurogane. Now he saw them, and got ready to meet them.

Fai managed to fell another before they even reached his companion. He couldn't see where this one got hit. It was possible that Fai had killed him. His stomach did a tiny flip at the thought, but he didn't have much time to spend dwelling on it. Now that Kurogane was engaged with both soldiers Fai couldn't shoot any arrows in that direction. He wasn't confident enough that he wouldn't hit Kurogane instead of their enemies. Kurogane still refused to do more than tire out his adversaries with excessive swordplay, but he was beginning to get backed up by them. He still needed help, and Fai was the only one paying attention.

He felt the beginnings of panic bubbling in his chest when something large moved just in his peripheral vision. Turning, he saw one of the _tokage_ he and Aoi looked after every day. Its rider was missing and it was stamping its feet and pawing the ground, anxious with the battle raging on around it. The sight of the creature gave him an idea. Running towards it, Fai managed to catch its attention. It recognized him and came forward slowly, making soft, low noises in its throat, a noise of distress. Fai touched its snout and calmed it as he led it away from the noise and the commotion, whispering, "There we go, it's okay. Come on over here with Fai. Let's help Kuro-tan, hm?" It didn't understand him, of course, but the tone of voice and familiar touch soothed it.

Fai circled around to its side and hoisted himself up into the saddle. He'd only ridden a _tokage_ a couple times before, but it would have to suffice. They were extremely intelligent animals and could compensate a lot for a poor rider, in any case.

With a gentle touch he led the creature in Kurogane's direction. He was just as Fai had left him, though he was starting to look tired. If he really was beginning to lose steam he might make a mistake and get hurt. There was no way Fai was going to let that happen.

He urged his mount to gain speed as they continued to get closer. Kurogane didn't notice, as they were approaching from behind him, but it wasn't long before his enemies saw the impressive creature. Their faces fell and their attacks faltered as they took a step or two back. Kurogane paused and looked around when they did so, searching for the cause, just as Fai rode up beside him.

Their eyes met for a split second. Fai could clearly see what Kurogane was thinking. "How the _hell_ did you manage to get involved?" He shrugged and waited. Kurogane shook his head briefly before joining Fai in the saddle, sitting in front of him. It was a tight fit, but Fai was slim, so they managed. Kurogane, who'd had more experience riding, took control of the beast and turned it back in the direction of the main fight. He seemed to be heading toward Yasha, in the center of the crowd, but Fai didn't have much time to wonder why. He swung around in the saddle and drew his bow one more time, finding the two enemy soldiers who had turned and ran the moment he showed up with the _tokage_. He narrowed in on the closer of the two and released an arrow, watching as it shot toward its target. Just before it reached, however, the world went black once more.

They were back home in an instant. Just like that. The battle was done for another night.

He could feel Kurogane let go of a huge breath he'd been holding before swinging himself down to the ground. Fai took a deep, steadying breath and followed suit. A man standing in a group of soldiers nearby broke off and approached him. His dark face turned up in a grim smile as he clapped Fai on the back and said something in a gruff voice. His friends joined him in a few seconds. These were some of the same men who'd been looking doubtfully at Fai before, but it seemed he'd been accepted now. They milled around, talking with each other and occasionally Fai, though he could only nod or force a smile onto his face in response. He didn't really care what these people thought, anyway. He managed to slip away with a bashful smile, but just outside the circle he quite literally ran into yet another solid body. Kurogane, who'd been waiting for him.

The ninja's mouth opened briefly and then closed. He looked like he felt kind of awkward, and rubbed the back of his head for a minute. He obviously didn't know how to tell Fai how he felt. But Fai knew how _he_ could. He took a step forward and pulled Kurogane into a hug. A proper hug, not an impersonal one he might give in teasing. The kind a person gives when they want to feel the other person beside them and know that they're alive. His hand clutched at Kurogane's back and held his robes tightly. His heart was pounding harder than it had been in battle, it seemed, and his breath was coming in short gasps. He felt uneasy and needed this closeness, this reassurance.

Kurogane stiffened at first, but after a moment he surprised Fai by returning the hug, with considerable force. He held Fai against him and rested his head on the mage's shoulder. His grip didn't loosen for a long time, even after Fai had tried to let go. There was something terribly sad about the way he clung to him, and Fai almost regretted having come to the battle. But he was here to stay, and Kurogane knew it too.

…

_Day 46_

Kurogane sighed aloud and knew that he was frowning. But he didn't care. He wasn't happy.

"Is something troubling you, Kurogane-san?" Hiroto asked politely from his side. Kurogane looked at him and found his usual vague smile on his face. He could hardly believe that this was the same man that became so fierce on the battlefield and so melancholy whenever they returned.

"It's nothing, really," Kurogane muttered. "I just…wish that idiot hadn't gotten involved in all this."

"I assume you're talking about Fai-san," Hiroto laughed gently.

"Who else?" Kurogane returned his focus to the room around them. Spread out along the walls were various pieces of armor and weapons; spares; the cast-offs of those that had made new ones or had been lost in battle.

He and Hiroto were here because now that Fai had taken it upon himself to join the war, Kurogane had insisted that he use some form of self-protection. Hiroto had suggested taking something from the armory, for, as he said, Fai was closer in size to the average soldier than Kurogane was. One of the breastplates in storage here should fit him with minor modifications. Right now Fai was working in the stables with Aoi, otherwise he'd have been there too of course. As it was, Hiroto had seemed confident that Kurogane would be able to find a likely match and they'd adjust it later if he chose wrong. Kurogane wasn't so sure he'd be able to do it. He wasn't as familiar with Fai's body as Hiroto thought, after all.

"He must be very important to you. You seem to worry about him often," Hiroto said absently as he picked up a plate and showed it to Kurogane.

He shook his head at the armor before saying, "I guess you could say that. We're…" Kurogane struggled to find a word that wasn't a lie, but that would also satisfy Hiroto. Hiroto smiled at the pained expression on his face.

"That's alright, I understand." Kurogane doubted he really did, but he nodded. Silence fell between them as they separated a little, examining armor in different corners of the room. It was kind of a relief for Kurogane. He liked Hiroto and was glad that they could speak to each other as friends and comrades, but occasionally he found himself at a loss of what to say. In that way, sometimes it was easier to be with Fai. He didn't have to say anything.

Hiroto spoke up a few minutes later. "What about this – oh, never mind. It looks like it never got cleaned." Kurogane glanced over at him and saw that he was eyeing a rust-stained breastplate. Then Kurogane took a double-take, because the difference in expression on Hiroto's face was astonishing.

It wasn't just that his smile was gone, or that the light-hearted gleam in his eye had disappeared. He looked like he was in distress. No, that wasn't it; he looked like he was in physical _pain_. His shoulders were slightly hunched forward, his hands were shaking. His eyes were actually bright and appeared close to tears, but he blinked and turned his back to Kurogane before any could spill over, if that was really the case.

Kurogane had known for some time that Hiroto had mixed feelings about violence and the war. Whenever the subject was brought up he'd exude feelings of bitterness, sadness, even anger. But while he was on the battlefield he was a calm, fearless leader that did what had to be done. Kurogane had always wondered what caused this change, and, before he knew it, he was asking.

"Why do you fight?"

Hiroto waited a couple seconds, probably composing himself before he turned around, face serene once more. "As I've told you, we've fought the Ashura Clan for generations-"

"No. I mean _you_. Personally." Hiroto cocked his head to one side so Kurogane explained even further, getting frustrated. "It's _obvious_ that you hate it. So why do you do it?"

"Ah, I see." He took his time once more, carefully replacing a spear he'd picked up to examine. He continued looking at the wall and said, "Well, Kurogane-san, I hate to say this, but you are wrong. I don't hate fighting. And that's because I fight for Yasha-ou. He is my leader and I will always do as he wishes."

Kurogane could sense something insincere about this response but it wasn't his place to pry any further. His curiosity had gotten the best of him for a moment, but if Hiroto didn't want to tell him then he had no business asking more about it. He picked up the nearest piece of armor. It looked a little worn, like it had been used often in its lifetime, but it was light and sturdy at the same time. He thought it would suit Fai.

"This one will be fine," he said, tucking it under his arm. But as he did so, he felt his heart sink. Once he gave this to Fai, he would have accepted the fact that he'd joined this fight for good. That the mage was choosing to put himself in danger, putting himself into a situation where it was kill or be killed. And there was nothing Kurogane could do to stop him.

* * *

**Thanks for reading~ Also, I'd like to tell everyone that I'm on tumblr now! My URL is simply walroose. xD Feel free to drop by and leave questions/comments about this fic (or any others I've written) on there as well as here. If people actually express interest, then I could even post the occasional update or headcanon or drawing (maybe) or whatever that just didn't quite make it into the story.**

**In the next chapter…things will pick up a bit. I know it's been a bit slow, but I really want to show the ****_entire_**** time in Yama, so that's how it has to be. Sorry! ^ ^**


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